Nunatsiaq News - Onlinehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/
enjaneg@nunatsiaq.comCopyright 20152015-03-30T13:54:27+00:00NEWS: Photo: Puvirnituq youth promote better livinghttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_puvirnituq_youth_promote_better_living/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_puvirnituq_youth_promote_better_living/NEWS2015-03-26T15:24:02+00:00NEWS: Photo: Musher receives a warm reception in Inukjuakhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_musher_received_a_warm_reception_in_inukjuak/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_musher_received_a_warm_reception_in_inukjuak/NEWS2015-03-25T14:24:37+00:00NEWS: Western Arctic polar bears in good shape: Inuvialuit huntershttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674western_arctic_polar_bears_in_good_shape_inuvialuit_hunters/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674western_arctic_polar_bears_in_good_shape_inuvialuit_hunters/Inuvialuit hunters, like many of their Inuit neighbours, believe polar bears in the western Arctic are generally in good health.
But to give those observations some more teeth, wildlife co-management agencies in the Inuvialuit region have a released an extensive new study on the subject.
“Inuvialuit and Nanuq: A Polar Bear Traditional Knowledge Study,” as its title suggests, is based on interviews with more than 70 elders and experienced hunters from six communities, prepared by the WildlifeNEWS2015-03-31T20:02:42+00:00NEWS: Izvestia: Canada-Russia spat could derail Arctic Council oil spill planhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674izvestia_canada-russia_spat_could_derail_arctic_council_oil_spill_plan/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674izvestia_canada-russia_spat_could_derail_arctic_council_oil_spill_plan/Bad blood between Canada and Russia, arising from the Ukraine conflict, threatens to derail the expected signing of an Arctic Council oil-spill response action plan this April 24 in Iqaluit, the Russian-language newspaper Izvestia reported last week.
In the article, published online March 24, Izvestia claimed that Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson does not want to be seen at the Iqaluit meeting with senior Russian officials.
“Canadian Foreign Minister Rob Nicholson has refused to go to aNEWS2015-03-31T17:54:44+00:00NEWS: EU tables proposal on Inuit seal meat saleshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674eu_tables_proposal_on_inuit_seal_meat_sales/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674eu_tables_proposal_on_inuit_seal_meat_sales/A new proposed regulation from the European Union Commission on trade in seal products may help open the door a little wider to seal meat sales in the 28-EU member nations.
The proposal, discussed last week at a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva, includes a commitment to develop a system in conjunction with Canadian authorities to ensure that Canadian Inuit have improved access to the EU market.
The proposal follows an announcement last October that Canada and the EU had struck aNEWS2015-03-31T16:45:07+00:00NEWS: Nunavut power utility warns customers about telephone scamhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_power_corp._warns_customers_of_telephone_scam/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_power_corp._warns_customers_of_telephone_scam/Be on guard if you answer the telephone and someone on the line says they work for the Nunavut power company, the Qulliq Energy Corp. said March 31 in a public service announcement.
The QEC said it wants to warn Nunavummiut of a telephone scam that has targeted utility customers in southern Canada.
According to news reports, customers are receiving calls from people claiming to be utility representatives and are told their power will be disconnected if they do not make an immediate paymentNEWS2015-03-31T15:01:57+00:00NEWS: Montreal church transformed into Inuit-language sanctuaryhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674montreal_church_transformed_into_inuit-language_sanctuary/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674montreal_church_transformed_into_inuit-language_sanctuary/Special to Nunatsiaq News
MONTREAL — Rev. Annie Ittoshat stops about every five minutes and gazes up at the cathedral ceiling of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Montreal.
“I mean, just look at this,” Ittoshat says, craning her neck at the church’s stained glass windows and the massive cross overlooking the church’s sanctuary.
For the past three years, the church has been quietly collecting dust. In Lachine, attendance dwindled, with St. Paul’s closing its doors in 2012.
But the Bishop ofNEWS2015-03-31T12:36:27+00:00NEWS: Western Nunavut Inuit elect new land claims org presidenthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674western_nunavut_inuit_elect_new_president_for_land_claims_org/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674western_nunavut_inuit_elect_new_president_for_land_claims_org/The Kitikmeot Inuit Association, which represents beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement in western Nunavut, will get a new elected president.
Stanley Anablak of Cambridge Bay was elected president of KIA in a byelection March 30, the KIA’s chief returning officer, Martina Maniyogina, said in a March 30 news release.
Anablak will serve as president until December 2018.
In his campaign materials, Anablak promised to promote programs for beneficiaries, especially for youth andNEWS2015-03-31T11:13:46+00:00NEWS: Iqaluit set to celebrate 50th anniversary of Toonik Tyme spring festivalhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_set_to_celebrate_50th_anniversary_of_toonik_tyme_spring_festiv/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_set_to_celebrate_50th_anniversary_of_toonik_tyme_spring_festiv/Iqaluit’s 50th Toonik Tyme festival promises to make the Nunavut capital bloom with a city-wide celebration of spring, starting with the Easter weekend and running well into April.
By popular demand, organizers of this year’s half-century anniversary celebration have lined up more traditional Inuit activities, in keeping with the festival’s roots, and included some fresh events.
“It was a huge balancing act, with some people wanting some things modernized, and a lot of others wanting to keepNEWS2015-03-31T10:31:11+00:00NEWS: Anti-vandalism campaign building pride, responsibility in Nunavikhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674anti-vandalism_campaign_building_pride_responsibility_in_nunavik/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674anti-vandalism_campaign_building_pride_responsibility_in_nunavik/Imaapik Brazeau says he’s used to seeing buildings in his hometown of Kangiqsualujjuaq looking a little run down; broken glass at the arena, doors that no longer open or graffiti on the walls of local homes and businesses.
It’s not that the 11-year-old student thinks it’s okay; he’s just always found it normal.
But when Brazeau saw images of that vandalism captured on film, from his own community and others in Nunavik, it made him think.
“Now when I see people doing it, I tell them not toNEWS2015-03-30T19:55:00+00:00NEWS: After 25 years, help line may bring 24-7 crisis support onlinehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_kamatsiaqtut_help_line_may_bring_24-7_crisis_support_online/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_kamatsiaqtut_help_line_may_bring_24-7_crisis_support_online/Soon you may be able to text the Kamatsiaqtut Help Line if you are in distress or feeling suicidal.
Already you can call the Iqaluit-based service 24-7, toll free from any telephone in Nunavik or Nunavut.
But in the United States, such text-based crisis lines are already in operation, one using the easy-to-remember number 741741, which runs down the left side of a telephone’s keypad.
Changes to Nunavut’s volunteer-run crisis-intervention hotline, which is now entering its 26th year ofNEWS2015-03-30T18:52:04+00:00NEWS: WWF to host Ottawa summit on protecting Nunavut’s Lancaster Soundhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674wwf_to_host_summit_on_protecting_nunavuts_lancaster_sound/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674wwf_to_host_summit_on_protecting_nunavuts_lancaster_sound/World Wildlife Canada officials are hosting a talk with federal members of parliament in Ottawa this week focused on protecting Lancaster Sound as a National Marine Conservation Area.
A parliamentary group will attend the event called Oceans on the Hill March 31 to discuss the proposed conservation area, which has been winding its way through a federal regulatory process since 2010.
The group, known as the all-party ocean caucus, first formed in 2012 to tackle environmental issues in Canada’sNEWS2015-03-30T17:30:19+00:00NEWS: Nunavik MP stops in Kuujjuaq on pre-election visithttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_mp_stops_in_kuujjuaq_on_pre-election_visit/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_mp_stops_in_kuujjuaq_on_pre-election_visit/KUUJJUAQ — Romeo Saganash, the New Democratic Party MP for Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou, says he plans to run again in this year’s federal election.
A rookie when elected in May 2011 with 45 per cent of the riding’s vote, Saganash said he’ll no longer be considered a rookie in 2015.
And, if re-elected, he said he’ll bring his experience as an MP back to the region.
On a mission to continue listening and learning from his constituents in Nunavik, Saganash visited Kuujjuaq lastNEWS2015-03-30T16:15:25+00:00NEWS: Arctic Council delegates ponder what works best in mental healthhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_council_delegates_ponder_what_works_best_in_mental_health/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_council_delegates_ponder_what_works_best_in_mental_health/Though suicide prevention and mental health are areas of life that only national and sub-national governments can do anything about, Arctic Council delegates from around the circumpolar world put a lot of energy last week into talking about it, especially what works and what doesn’t.
The two-and-a-half-day gathering at the Iqaluit Cadet Hall, which covered one of Canada’s priorities for its chairmanship of the Arctic Council, was organized under the Arctic Council’s sustainable developmentNEWS2015-03-30T15:05:23+00:00NEWS: Kitikmeot Inuit go back to the polls March 30 in western Nunavuthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kitikmeot_inuit_go_back_to_the_polls_march_30_in_western_nunavut/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kitikmeot_inuit_go_back_to_the_polls_march_30_in_western_nunavut/It’s election day once again in western Nunavut, as eligible Kitikmeot Inuit beneficiaries vote in a March 30 byelection to choose a new president for the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.
The candidates for the position are:
• Joseph Aglukkaq of Gjoa Haven;
• Stanley Anablak of Cambridge Bay;
• Jeannie Ehaloak of Cambridge Bay;
• Joe Allen Evyagotailak of Kugluktuk;
• Attima Hadlari of Cambridge Bay;
• Donald Havioyak of Kugluktuk;
• Paul Ikuataq of Gjoa Haven;
• David A. Porter of GjoaNEWS2015-03-30T13:54:27+00:00NEWS: Nunavik declaration commits to Inuit culture, self-governancehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_declaration_commits_to_inuit_culture_self-governance/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_declaration_commits_to_inuit_culture_self-governance/Nunavimmiut are a strong, united and determined people, says a new declaration adopted by regional leaders March 26.
And they’re determined to promote and protect their Inuit language and culture and work towards more autonomy.
The declaration, drafted and adopted at Makivik Corp.’s annual general meeting held this past week in Kuujjuaq, aims to set in motion a regional blueprint or vision for the region, crafted through the Parnasimautik consultations of 2013 and subsequent report.
“WithNEWS2015-03-30T13:01:10+00:00NEWS: Former NHLers pay visit to Nunavut capital with Stanley Cuphttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674former_nhlers_pay_a_visit_to_nunavut_capital_with_stanley_cup/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674former_nhlers_pay_a_visit_to_nunavut_capital_with_stanley_cup/Iqaluit got a special visit, March 27, from two former National Hockey League players, and the ultimate big league prize they both won in their professional careers — the Stanley Cup.
John LeClair, who won the award as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, and Marty McSorley, winner with Edmonton Oilers in 1987 and 1988, were guests of honour in a “celebration of hockey” event hosted by Scotiabank at the Arctic Winter Games Arena.
Scotiabank, which sponsors more than 5,000 amateurNEWS2015-03-30T11:31:54+00:00NEWS: Nunavut land claim org approves lawsuit settlement dealhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_land_claim_org_approves_lawsuit_settlement_deal/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_land_claim_org_approves_lawsuit_settlement_deal/Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s board of directors voted March 24 to accept a tentative settlement in a lawsuit they launched against the federal government.
NTI President Cathy Towtongie, who just returned March 27 from three days of board meetings in Baker Lake this week, said she was excited and relieved that the agreement, which took about a year to negotiate, may soon become official.
“It’s the Inuit home in Nunavut. This was an agreement that Canada entered into with Inuit. They hadNEWS2015-03-30T10:59:31+00:00NEWS: Canadian North, First Air comply with new cockpit security orderhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674canadian_north_first_air_comply_with_new_cockpit_order/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674canadian_north_first_air_comply_with_new_cockpit_order/First Air and Canadian North each say they have complied immediately with a Transport Canada directive that requires them to keep at least two crew members inside their aircraft cockpits at all times.
The move follows a Transport Canada ordered made March 26 in response to the March 24 crash of a jet in France, when the co-pilot locked himself in the cockpit and then crashed the aircraft into a mountain, killing all 150 people on board.
Now, on all flights in Canada, where the captain orNEWS2015-03-30T09:49:54+00:00NEWS: Photo: Spot the astronaut, and your local MPhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photospot_the_astronaut_and_your_local_mp/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photospot_the_astronaut_and_your_local_mp/NEWS2015-03-29T19:00:33+00:00NEWS: Photo: Young Karibus members reach their destinationhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_young_karibus_reach_their_destination/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_young_karibus_reach_their_destination/NEWS2015-03-29T17:00:04+00:00COMMENTARY: My Little Corner of Canada, March 27http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674my_little_corner_of_canada_march_27/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674my_little_corner_of_canada_march_27/To most Canadians, the Arctic is still a mysterious place. Only a small percentage of Canadians have ever travelled to or worked up here.
Even those who have experienced living and working here rarely venture outside of the community where they work. Some of them do travel the land during the warm months of spring and summer. A few brave souls do challenge the Arctic during the darkest and coldest periods.
The number of Inuit who have truly experienced the Arctic year round is dwindling. TheCOMMENTARY2015-03-27T20:21:35+00:00NEWS: Make way — the Stanley Cup’s in townhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674make_way_the_stanley_cups_in_town/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674make_way_the_stanley_cups_in_town/KUUJJUAQ — If there was a trending theme to the selfies taken in Kuujjuaq March 27, it would be selfies with the Stanley Cup or with two former National Hockey League players, Marty McSorley and John LeClair.
The Stanley Cup and the two NHL alumni stopped off in Kuujjuaq on their way to Iqaluit to present 25 bags of new hockey equipment to young Nunavik hockey players — a gift that was a combined effort between hockey-equipment fundraiser Project North, Scotiabank and First Air.
FromNEWS2015-03-27T19:17:15+00:00NEWS: Photo: Hey kids! Look over here!http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_hey_kids_look_over_here/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_hey_kids_look_over_here/NEWS2015-03-27T19:00:43+00:00NEWS: Kivalliq hunters to get an additional bowhead this seasonhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kivalliq_hunters_to_get_an_additional_bowhead/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kivalliq_hunters_to_get_an_additional_bowhead/Hunters in the Kivalliq region will be able to take home an extra bowhead whale this season, now that the federal government has approved an increase to the total allowable harvest for the region.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said March 27 that it has okayed the Nunavut Wildlife Board’s decision to increase the bowhead whale harvest in the Kivalliq from one to two whales each year.
The decision to increase the bowhead quota in the Kivalliq follows a similar one in the Baffin, whereNEWS2015-03-27T16:56:23+00:00NEWS: Four face charges linked to western Nunavut break-inshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674four_face_charges_linked_to_break-ins_in_cambridge_bay/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674four_face_charges_linked_to_break-ins_in_cambridge_bay/Four people in Cambridge Bay have been charged in connection with a series of break-ins around the Kitikmeot community, the Nunavut RCMP said March 27.
From March 1 to March 25, police responded to break-ins at a number of local businesses, including at the airport, a local convenience store and the post office.
Cambridge Bay’s Elks Club, and the community’s housing association were also broken into.
After weeks of investigation, the Nunavut RCMP have charged three adults and one youth withNEWS2015-03-27T15:43:50+00:00NEWS: Photo: Heavenly bodies align over Arctic Bayhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photoheavenly_bodies_align_over_arctic_bay/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photoheavenly_bodies_align_over_arctic_bay/NEWS2015-03-27T14:30:26+00:00NEWS: Iqaluit meeting: NNC board says sales receipts must show subsidyhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_meeting_nnc_board_says_sales_receipts_must_show_subsidy/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_meeting_nnc_board_says_sales_receipts_must_show_subsidy/The Nutrition North Canada Advisory Board wants northern consumers to see the money they’re saving from the Nutrition North Canada food freight subsidy program itemized on their grocery bills at the point of sale.
“I want to see what is presented to each individual [on their sales receipt] as clearly as possible,” said Nellie Cournoyea, vice chair of the board, at a public meeting in Iqaluit March 26.
Printing out savings at the point of sale would allow shoppers to see both “the price of theNEWS2015-03-27T12:57:28+00:00NEWS: Quebec’s budget sets millions aside for Nunavik’s Plan Nordhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674quebecs_budget_sets_millions_aside_for_plan_nord/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674quebecs_budget_sets_millions_aside_for_plan_nord/Is the 2015-16 Quebec budget a bit like spare change found in sofa cracks, as suggested Philip Authier of the Montreal Gazette, a skimpy “Walmart” budget, according to Québec Solidaire’s Françoise David, or the solid balanced financial plan touted by the Quebec government, which is looking to recover a $197.1 billion deficit?
On March 26 Quebec’s finance minister, Carlos Leitão, presented the Liberal government’s budget along with an economic plan, which he said will guide the government inNEWS2015-03-27T11:25:52+00:00NEWS: Photo: Team LeClair plays the AWGhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_team_leclair_plays_the_awg/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_team_leclair_plays_the_awg/NEWS2015-03-27T10:23:43+00:00NEWS: Puvirnituq mushers win big at Nunavik’s Ivakkak racehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674puvirnituq_mushers_win_big_at_ivakkak/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674puvirnituq_mushers_win_big_at_ivakkak/The community hosting the finish line of this year’s Ivakkak dog sled race got to welcome home their local mushers, who finished in the race’s top three places March 26.
According to preliminary results, Puvirnituq musher Novalinga Novalinga and partner Juani Uqaituq finished in first place March 26, holding onto a lead from day one of the race. This marks Novalinga’s second win; he and partner Aibilie Moses won Ivakkak in 2009.
Peter Ittukallak and Juai Nutaraaluk, also of Puvirnituq,NEWS2015-03-27T10:21:37+00:00NEWS: Iqaluit’s new administrative boss to start work April 7http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluits_new_administrative_boss_to_start_work_april_7/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluits_new_administrative_boss_to_start_work_april_7/Iqaluit City Council approved the appointment of a new chief administrative officer March 24.
Muhamud Hassan, who served as senior administrative officer for the hamlet of Sanikiluaq from 2008 to 2012, will take the top city manager’s position for the Nunavut capital on April 7.
“We’re looking forward to having him start with the city,” said Mayor Mary Wilman. “He is well-known by the government of Nunavut and well-respected, and that’s an asset to us.”
The council’s motion registry showsNEWS2015-03-26T19:39:17+00:00NEWS: Nunavut man gets 18-month sentence for sex with underage relativehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_man_gets_18-month_sentence_for_sex_with_teenaged_relative/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_man_gets_18-month_sentence_for_sex_with_teenaged_relative/A 31-year-old Nunavut man who pleaded guilty to having sex with the 15-and-a-half-year-old sister of his common-law wife will spend 16 more months in jail.
That sentence came after his plea on two charges, sexual assault and sexual interference, in relation to events that occurred April 19, 2013, when J.Q. admitted to sexual intercourse with the teenaged complainant when they were both heavily intoxicated.
In a judgment, Nunavut Justice B.R. Burrows states that the offences took place inNEWS2015-03-26T18:23:09+00:00NEWS: Photo: Makivik Corp. honours Nunavik’s construction workershttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_makivik_corp._honours_nunaviks_construction_workers/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_makivik_corp._honours_nunaviks_construction_workers/NEWS2015-03-26T17:06:50+00:00NEWS: Tiny Nunavut community reviving eiderdown industryhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tiny_nunavut_community_reviving_eiderdown_industry/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tiny_nunavut_community_reviving_eiderdown_industry/From the time he was an infant in his mother’s amauti to age 22, which is what he is now, Alex “Puasi” Ippaq has been going out on the land every summer.
From his home in Sanikiluaq in southern Hudson Bay, his family — grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters — would set off to various destinations on the Belcher, Sleeper and King George islands to camp, hunt and fish.
When he was old enough, he would help collect the down that mother eiders pluck from their skin to line theirNEWS2015-03-26T16:29:01+00:00NEWS: More than one-third of Nunavut households go hungry: StatsCanhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674more_than_one-third_of_nunavut_households_go_hungry_stat_can/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674more_than_one-third_of_nunavut_households_go_hungry_stat_can/Updated at 12:30 p.m.
A new report from Statistics Canada confirms what most Nunavummiut already know: that the territory has the highest rate of food insecurity in the country.
The report, Food Insecurity in Canada, released March 25, found more than one-third of Nunavut households don’t get enough to eat.
In 2011-12, an estimated 36.7 per cent of Nunavummiut struggled with food insecurity, the StatsCan report said — more than four times the Canadian average of 8.3 per cent.
The reportNEWS2015-03-26T14:32:53+00:00NEWS: Nunavut residents raise $1,400 for Cambridge Bay food bankhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_residents_raise_1400_for_cambridge_bay_food_bank/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_residents_raise_1400_for_cambridge_bay_food_bank/Special to Nunatsiaq News
The generous residents of Cambridge Bay have done it again.
Organizers of a coffeehouse fundraiser, held March 21 in this western Nunavut community, reported they raised $1,400 for the Wellness Centre’s food bank.
“I think how people came together to make this happen was the biggest success,” said Christine Aye, one of the event’s organizers. “So many people gave up their Saturday afternoon to help out a good cause.”
About 15 people volunteered to help run theNEWS2015-03-26T11:30:33+00:00NEWS: Innu Meshkenu walkers arrive in Kuujjuaqhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674innu_meshkenu_walkers_arrive_in_kuujjuaq/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674innu_meshkenu_walkers_arrive_in_kuujjuaq/When the community of Kuujjuaq first came into view March 24, Dr. Stanley Vollant fell to his knees. Then he cried.
When Vollant and 18 other Innu, Naskapi and Inuit left Matimekush (Schefferville) on foot 27 days earlier, Kuujjuaq had seemed like a world away.
More than 450 kilometres later, the site of the Nunavik community was a welcome one for the group of tired walkers.
“This is it,” Vollant recalled. “It was very emotional.”
The group spent the night about eight km outside of town,NEWS2015-03-26T10:30:27+00:00NEWS: Nunavut youth accused of murder heard voices in his head, witness sayshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_youth_accused_of_murder_heard_voices_in_his_head_witness_says/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_youth_accused_of_murder_heard_voices_in_his_head_witness_says/(Corrected March 26, 11:30 a.m.)
A young Nunavut man currently standing trial in Iqaluit for second-degree murder in connection with the 2012 death in Igloolik of 26-year-old Tracy Uttak, heard voices in his head for months after being remanded in custody at Iqaluit’s facility for youth offenders.
Sometimes those voices told him to do harmful, violent things, but the accused man fought back against those voices, resisting the urge to obey them.
That’s according to the testimony of theNEWS2015-03-25T19:32:20+00:00NEWS: Photo: Hockey’s most famous Cup lands in Kuujjuaqhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_hockeys_most_famous_cup_lands_in_kuujjuaq/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_hockeys_most_famous_cup_lands_in_kuujjuaq/NEWS2015-03-25T19:30:27+00:00NEWS: Nunavut’s French school board looks for new commissionerhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavuts_french_school_board_looks_for_new_commissioner/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavuts_french_school_board_looks_for_new_commissioner/Nunavut’s French-language school board is looking for candidates who are interested in sitting on the board’s council of commissioners.
The Commission scolaire francophone du Nunavut (CSFN), which counts five elected commissioners, announced the resignation of one its members, Seth Reinhart, last week.
Reinhart, a member of the CFSN for the past six years, resigned his seat as of March 8.
Now the board is calling on potential candidates to put their names forward to fill the outgoingNEWS2015-03-25T17:36:00+00:00NEWS: NDP calls for ban on microbeads, also found in Arctichttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ndp_calls_for_ban_on_microbeads_also_found_in_arctic/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ndp_calls_for_ban_on_microbeads_also_found_in_arctic/(Updated March 25, 3:00 p.m.)
Days after calling for an emergency debate on climate change and the Arctic in the House of Commons, the New Democratic Party’s environment critic, Megan Leslie, made a motion March 24 for a ban on microbeads, which have been found in the Great Lakes.
If you live in Canada’s Arctic or anywhere in the circumpolar world, you might ask: so what does this motion have to do with us?
There’s actually a direct link to the Arctic: these plastic microbeads, firstNEWS2015-03-25T16:01:49+00:00NEWS: Nunavut community struggling with radio, TV broadcastshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_community_struggling_with_radio_tv_broadcasts/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_community_struggling_with_radio_tv_broadcasts/A shortage of qualified technicians has left Clyde River without radio broadcasting for nearly four months — and the hamlet office with a slew of complaints about lack of service.
“The radio’s very important,” said John Ivey, senior administrative officer for the hamlet. For many residents, the radio is a primary source of information about the world outside the community of 1,000, in addition to local events.
“There’s a lot of demand for the radio to be on air, and it is tough not having itNEWS2015-03-25T14:55:37+00:00NEWS: Iqaluit council clears the way for film crew to shoot in Apexhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_council_clears_the_way_for_film_crew_to_shoot_in_apex/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_council_clears_the_way_for_film_crew_to_shoot_in_apex/Iqaluit city council promised to help clear the way for a film crew to transform a section of Apex into a camera-friendly zone, with customized night-time lighting fit to shoot for the silver screen.
In a motion passed March 24, councillors agreed unanimously to ask the Qulliq Energy Corp. to keep 18 streetlights off for four nights in an area covering almost half of Apex, for the period April 16 to April 23.
This will allow the producers of Two Lovers and a Bear to use their own lightingNEWS2015-03-25T14:00:26+00:00NEWS: Armed stand-off, hostage-taking ends March 25 with death of Nunavik manhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674armed_standoff_hostage-taking_ends_with_death_of_nunavik_man/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674armed_standoff_hostage-taking_ends_with_death_of_nunavik_man/(Updated at 3:20 p.m., March 25)
An armed stand-off ended at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, in the Nunavik community of Inukjuak, when a 24-year-old man turned his gun on himself, suffering a fatal wound.
Three hostages, a 60-year-old woman and twin babies, aged nine months, had already been released from a residence in Inukjuak at about 5 p.m., March 24.
The hostages were unharmed, according to Eric Labadde, spokesperson with the Montreal Police Service, whose investigators are now enNEWS2015-03-25T12:24:57+00:00NEWS: Photo: Nunavik Creations picks up marketing awardhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nunavik_creations_picks_up_marketing_award/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nunavik_creations_picks_up_marketing_award/NEWS2015-03-25T12:20:13+00:00NEWS: Photo: Former NHLers head to Kuujjuaqhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_former_nhlers_head_to_kuujjuaq/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_former_nhlers_head_to_kuujjuaq/NEWS2015-03-25T12:20:03+00:00NEWS: Up and coming Nunavut artist holds first solo exhibit in Torontohttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674up_and_coming_nunavut_artist_attends_first_solo_exhibition/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674up_and_coming_nunavut_artist_attends_first_solo_exhibition/TORONTO — She got lost in the airport, felt like she was going to faint and then her baby cried through her opening night speech.
But Cape Dorset artist Nicotye Samayualie said her first solo exhibition in Toronto was a lot of fun — and she hopes it’s the first of many.
“It was really good for me,” said the 31-year-old mother of three, who attended the Feb. 28 opening night with her six-month-old son Norman in her amauti.
“But when I was talking about my drawings, my Norman started crying,NEWS2015-03-25T09:55:25+00:00NEWS: TV Nunavut: could it really happen?http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tv_nunavut_could_it_really_happen/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tv_nunavut_could_it_really_happen/A group of television and film producers behind a project to create TV Nunavut, a territory-wide network devoted to broadcasting Nunavut and Inuit-made programming, posted a milestone this month.
The TV Nunavut Educational Broadcast Society learned late last week that their promise to deliver educational content for the territory would guarantee them a place in basic cable packages.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced March 19 that cable companies mustNEWS2015-03-24T18:30:04+00:00NEWS: The Iqaluit wine-beer store plebiscite: a primerhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674the_iqaluit_wine-beer_store_plebiscite_a_primer/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674the_iqaluit_wine-beer_store_plebiscite_a_primer/(Updated March 24, 2:25 p.m., with contact and polling station info)
Elections Nunavut has just released more information about the April 20 Iqaluit plebiscite on the Government of Nunavut’s proposal to open a wine and beer store.
Here’s what we know so far:
What’s the question?
It’s simple:
“Are you in favour of a beer and wine store opening in the City of Iqaluit?”
The plebiscite will ask voters to mark their ballots either Yes or No.
Who is eligible to vote?
You must be a CanadianNEWS2015-03-24T18:25:48+00:00NEWS: Photo: Pond Inlet ballers take territorial championshiphttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_pond_inlet_ballers_take_territorial_championship/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_pond_inlet_ballers_take_territorial_championship/NEWS2015-03-24T18:20:28+00:00NEWS: Photo: Visiting TV crew films elders in Cambridge Bayhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_visiting_tv_crew_film_elders_in_cambridge_bay/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_visiting_tv_crew_film_elders_in_cambridge_bay/NEWS2015-03-24T18:20:28+00:00NEWS: Photo: Two Nunavummiut lovers….and a bearhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_two_nunavummiut_lovers....and_a_bear/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_two_nunavummiut_lovers....and_a_bear/NEWS2015-03-24T18:20:02+00:00NEWS: Resource centre helps Inuit find work, stability in the big cityhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674resource_centre_helps_inuit_find_work_stability_in_the_big_city/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674resource_centre_helps_inuit_find_work_stability_in_the_big_city/MONTREAL — Barbara Veevee has the personality to match her fluorescent pink striped tee shirt; she’s bright and energetic.
But her energy in the workplace has waned in recent months, said Veevee, who’s worked a night shift cleaning offices for the last two years.
“I’m tired of my mop and trolley,” said Veevee, who moved to Montreal from Pangnirtung 10 years ago.
She also has a 15-year-old son at home, in the suburb of Laval, with whom she’d like to spend more time.
Veevee is one of aNEWS2015-03-24T17:30:52+00:00NEWS: Geologists set to update land maps between Iqaluit and Pangnirtunghttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674geologists_set_to_update_land_maps_between_iqaluit_and_pangnirtung/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674geologists_set_to_update_land_maps_between_iqaluit_and_pangnirtung/Federal government scientists will survey the geology and landscape of a large area between Iqaluit and Pangnirtung this summer.
The Geological Survey of Canada and Natural Resources Canada will share their plans and goals with the public March 25 at the Nunavut Research Institute in Iqaluit.
Surveyors will cover an area stretching from Clearwater Fiord, just west of Pangnirtung, to Nettilling Lake in the west, and south to Sylvia Grinnell Lake.
Led by the Geological Survey of Canada, theNEWS2015-03-24T15:55:45+00:00NEWS: Segregated Nunavut inmates don’t get proper oversight: AGhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674segregated_nunavut_inmates_dont_get_proper_oversight_ag/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674segregated_nunavut_inmates_dont_get_proper_oversight_ag/Inmates at the Baffin Correction Centre who are isolated from the rest of the population and put in segregation do not get proper oversight to ensure their safety and security, the office of the Auditor General of Canada said in a report on the state of corrections in Nunavut March 10.
“That finding is important because inmates are vulnerable and placing them in segregation puts them into an even more vulnerable position,” Maria Pooley, a senior auditor, said at a news conference in IqaluitNEWS2015-03-24T14:40:40+00:00NEWS: Canada already protects Aboriginal rights: Conservative MPhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674canada_already_protects_aboriginal_rights_conservative_mp/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674canada_already_protects_aboriginal_rights_conservative_mp/The Conservative government says the Canadian constitution is doing its job of protecting the rights of Aboriginal peoples in this country.
Conservative MP Mark Strahl suggested last week that bill C-641, a private member’s bill that aims to adapt Canadian law to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or UNDRIP, is little more than “lip service.”
Strahl told the House of Commons March 12 that Canada “already boasts a unique and robust legal framework through whichNEWS2015-03-24T13:58:32+00:00NEWS: Research shows new TB tester reduces diagnosis time in Nunavuthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674research_shows_new_tb-tester_lowers_diagnosis_time_in_nunavut/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674research_shows_new_tb-tester_lowers_diagnosis_time_in_nunavut/Tuberculosis, the focus of World TB Day, March 24, continues to be a significant public health concern in Canada’s North, where TB rates are sky-high and testing for TB takes far longer than in the country’s major centres.
“The battle is not won. We can see it in Iqaluit and Nunavut where the cases are still present,”&nbsp; Dr. Gonzalo Alvarez, a respirologist at the Ottawa Hospital, told Nunatsiaq News.
A paper published March 19 by Alvarez and other researchers in Iqaluit, Ottawa and MontrealNEWS2015-03-24T13:03:25+00:00NEWS: Photo: Nunavut MP talks about culturally-sensitive mental health serviceshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nunavut_mp_touts_culturally-sensitive_mental_health_services/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nunavut_mp_touts_culturally-sensitive_mental_health_services/NEWS2015-03-24T13:00:52+00:00NEWS: Photo: The light of life lights up Puvirnituqhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_the_light_of_life_lights_up_puvirnituq/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_the_light_of_life_lights_up_puvirnituq/NEWS2015-03-24T13:00:35+00:00NEWS: Photo: Dr. Stanley Vollant and crew arrive in Kuujjuaqhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_dr._stanley_vollant_and_crew_arrive_in_kuujjuaq/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_dr._stanley_vollant_and_crew_arrive_in_kuujjuaq/NEWS2015-03-24T12:10:52+00:00NEWS: Greenland sets its sights on tackling high TB rateshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674greenland_sets_its_sights_on_tackling_high_TB_rates/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674greenland_sets_its_sights_on_tackling_high_TB_rates/Tuberculosis continues to pose a major threat to health in Greenland.
“The size of the challenge we face cannot be underestimated. The road to an acceptable incidence of the disease is long. The path to extinction [of TB] is even longer,” the Greenland government said March 23 in a statement released in advanced of World TB Day, March 24.
In 2014, 95 cases of TB were detected — which means Greenlandic Inuit suffer from TB at about the same high rate as Canadian Inuit.
Greenland is activelyNEWS2015-03-24T11:56:26+00:00NEWS: Tuberculosis rates remain sky-high among Canadian Inuithttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tuberculosis_rates_remain_sky-high_among_Canadian_Inuit/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tuberculosis_rates_remain_sky-high_among_Canadian_Inuit/If you live in the Inuit regions of Canada, chances are that you or someone you know has tested positive for tuberculosis, a deadly infectious disease that usually affects the lungs.
In 2006 and again in 2014, Canada’s minister of health announced the adoption of a national TB reduction target of 3.6 cases per 100,000 by 2015.
But TB rates among Inuit continue to be high — overall, at least 30 times higher than that target rate, or, in Nunavut, 49 times higher.
A 2014 Health Canada documentNEWS2015-03-24T11:10:53+00:00NEWS: Nunavut nurse’s civil affidavit mentions death of Cape Dorset babyhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_nurses_civil_affidavit_mentions_death_of_cape_dorset_baby/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_nurses_civil_affidavit_mentions_death_of_cape_dorset_baby/Debbie McKeown, the former Cape Dorset nurse at the centre of a scandal involving the death of a three-month-old baby in 2012, is giving her side of the story.
That story, now public information, is contained in an affidavit recently filed with the Nunavut Court of Justice in connection with court proceedings McKeown launched against the territorial body that licenses and disciplines nurses — the Registered Nursing Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
That affidavit was filedNEWS2015-03-24T10:30:38+00:00NEWS: Photo: A morning prayer to send us offhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_a_morning_prayer_to_send_us_off/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_a_morning_prayer_to_send_us_off/NEWS2015-03-24T10:27:42+00:00NEWS: Photo: Heavy aurora activity lights up skies in Kugluktukhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_heavy_aurora_activity_lights_up_skies_in_kugluktuk/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_heavy_aurora_activity_lights_up_skies_in_kugluktuk/NEWS2015-03-24T10:25:02+00:00NEWS: Mining production in Nunavut was up slightly in 2014http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavuts_share_of_mining_production_money_rises_slightly/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavuts_share_of_mining_production_money_rises_slightly/The value of mining production has increased in Nunavut over the past year, according to federal government statistics released last week.
Preliminary estimates for 2014 mineral production posted by Natural Resources Canada show that in Nunavut, the total value of mining production reached $642 million, up two per cent from $629 million in 2013.
Of this:
• gold production value was $639 million, up two per cent from $627 million in 2014; and
• silver production value was up eight per centNEWS2015-03-23T18:40:04+00:00NEWS: Chewing tobacco project nets top prize at Nunavut science fairhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674chewing_tobacco_impacts_nets_top_prize_in_nunavut_science_fair/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674chewing_tobacco_impacts_nets_top_prize_in_nunavut_science_fair/Special to Nunatsiaq News
CAMBRIDGE BAY — Looking at Jordan Takkiruq’s science project, you might be surprised to find out he’s only a Grade 8 student.
For his project, the 13-year-old from Gjoa Haven created an elaborate experiment to discover the impact of chewing tobacco on teeth.
“I surveyed everyone in my school. I asked 107 people seven questions about their involvement with chewing tobacco,” said Takkiruq. “The result was that I found out the worst brand of chewing tobacco for yourNEWS2015-03-23T18:30:53+00:00NEWS: Canada-Finland Arctic orgs vow closer collaborationhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_orgs_of_canada-finland_vow_closer_collaboration/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_orgs_of_canada-finland_vow_closer_collaboration/Finland and Canada moved toward closer collaboration March 23 with the signing of a declaration of cooperation between the Arctic Society of Finland and the Canadian Polar Commission.
A news release on the declaration says they will agree to:
• cooperate in support of sustainable development of Arctic areas;
• support in conducting Arctic research;
• increase awareness of the need for Arctic cooperation in economic, environmental and other appropriate areas for developing northernNEWS2015-03-23T15:10:28+00:00NEWS: Nunavut youth gets certified for lifeguard duty in CamBayhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_youth_gets_certified_for_lifeguard_duty_in_cambay/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_youth_gets_certified_for_lifeguard_duty_in_cambay/Special to Nunatsiaq News
CAMBRIDGE BAY — Every summer, the Hamlet of Cambridge Bay has to fly someone in to work as a lifeguard at their popular indoor pool.
But this year, the hamlet can actually hire someone locally.
Candace Elatiak, 21, will be only the second local lifeguard to work at the pool as a summer job.
“I think it’ll be fun,” said Elatiak, who moved back to Cambridge Bay in 2010 after living in Yellowknife for a few years. “I’ve been thinking of becoming a lifeguard for a longNEWS2015-03-23T13:46:13+00:00NEWS: NDP seeks emergency Commons debate on Arctic sea ice declinehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ndp_environment_critic_seeks_emergency_debate_on_arctic_sea_ice_declin/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ndp_environment_critic_seeks_emergency_debate_on_arctic_sea_ice_declin/The New Democratic Party’s environment critic plans to request an emergency debate in the House of Commons on climate change.
Responding to the news that this year’s Arctic winter sea ice had dipped to a record low, Megan Leslie, MP for Halifax, stood up March 20 in the House of Commons to say she wants to see an emergency debate on March 23 to discuss Arctic sea ice decline.
“This emergency debate is required in order to allow parliamentarians to address the substantial domestic andNEWS2015-03-23T12:16:58+00:00NEWS: Nunavut man gets 15-year sentence for 2010 shooting spreehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_man_gets_15-year_sentence_for_2010_shooting_spree/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_man_gets_15-year_sentence_for_2010_shooting_spree/A 23-year-old Cape Dorset man, in custody since 2010, will remain in jail for nearly nine more years, following earlier convictions for manslaughter and four firearms charges.
Nunavut justice Neil Sharkey said In a March 20 document explaining his judgment that “increasing firearm crime” was among the many reasons that he recently sentenced Elee Geetah to 15 years, minus credit for six years, three months for time already served in hard remand, in a Cape Dorset courtroom.
The manslaughter andNEWS2015-03-23T11:04:07+00:00NEWS: Photo: Cutting the sealskin ribbon at new Clyde River hamlet officeshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_cutting_the_sealskin_ribbon_at_new_clyde_river_hamlet_offices/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_cutting_the_sealskin_ribbon_at_new_clyde_river_hamlet_offices/NEWS2015-03-23T11:00:01+00:00NEWS: Photo: Makivik Corp. AGM underway in Kuujjuaq this weekhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_makivik_corp._agm_underway_in_kuujjuaq_this_week/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_makivik_corp._agm_underway_in_kuujjuaq_this_week/NEWS2015-03-23T10:57:24+00:00NEWS: Assaults tripled over a decade at Nunavut’s notorious jailhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674assaults_tripled_in_a_decade_at_nunavuts_notorious_jail/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674assaults_tripled_in_a_decade_at_nunavuts_notorious_jail/Incidents of physical assault at Nunavut’s largest and most notorious prison, the Baffin Correctional Centre, more than tripled in the decade ending in 2013, according to a report issued by Canada’s auditor general March 10.
“Physical assaults on inmates or staff or visitors rose from 57 in the 2002-03 fiscal year to 185 in the 2012-13 fiscal year,” auditors noted in a report on Nunavut’s correctional system tabled in the legislative assembly in Iqaluit March 10.
The report draws a linkNEWS2015-03-23T10:30:12+00:00NEWS: Photo: Kuujjuammiut offer spirited send-off to skiershttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_kuujjuammiut_offer_spirited_send-off_to_skiers/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_kuujjuammiut_offer_spirited_send-off_to_skiers/NEWS2015-03-22T09:14:34+00:00NEWS: Photo: a happy evening in Ottawahttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_a_happy_evening_in_ottawa/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_a_happy_evening_in_ottawa/NEWS2015-03-21T09:49:49+00:00NEWS: Photo: Ottawa Inuit celebrate the spring equinoxhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_ottawa_inuit_celebrate_the_spring_equinox/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_ottawa_inuit_celebrate_the_spring_equinox/NEWS2015-03-21T09:34:09+00:00NEWS: Ottawa announces big budget hikes for Nunavut regulatory orgshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ottawa_announces_huge_budget_increases_for_nunavut_orgs/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ottawa_announces_huge_budget_increases_for_nunavut_orgs/As is often the case with big announcements out of Ottawa, the Government of Canada issued a news release at the end of the day March 20, touting big funding hikes for the family of Nunavut boards and commissions known as “Institutions of Public Government,” or IPGs.
In their big lawsuit filed in December 2006, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. alleged the federal government was underfunding these agencies and therefore breaching its obligations under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.
The new fundingNEWS2015-03-20T20:57:06+00:00NEWS: GN to help Baffin hamlets brace for impact of beer-wine storehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_to_help_baffin_hamlets_brace_for_impact_of_beer-wine_store/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_to_help_baffin_hamlets_brace_for_impact_of_beer-wine_store/(Updated 4:15 p.m., March 20)
Nunavut Finance Minister Keith Peterson told mayors of the Baffin region that, if a proposal to open a beer-wine store in Iqaluit goes ahead, his department would help their communities brace for the impact.
One of the finance department’s “big initiatives” of the year, “which may have some bearing on you, as communities of the Baffin region, is we’re planning on holding a plebiscite on a beer and wine store in Iqaluit,” Peterson told representatives of theNEWS2015-03-20T20:15:58+00:00NEWS: Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association gets PM’s volunteer awardhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_arts_and_crafts_association_receives_pms_volunteer_award/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_arts_and_crafts_association_receives_pms_volunteer_award/Nunavut was remembered when Prime Minister Stephen Harper honoured the recipients of the third Prime Minister’s Volunteer Awards March 18 at a special ceremony in Toronto.
That’s when the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association received the regional award for B.C. and the North, which comes with a $5,000 grant, likely to assist the annual NACA arts festival.
The NACA award is a result of “our great partnerships across the territory and working with our members on opportunities and training in theNEWS2015-03-20T20:05:13+00:00NEWS: Nunavut planning for widespread power plant upgradeshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_planning_for_widespread_power_plant_upgrades/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_planning_for_widespread_power_plant_upgrades/Upgrades to aging power plants topped a list of Baffin mayors’ concerns in an open discussion with Nunavut Finance Minister Keith Peterson at a regional forum in Iqaluit, March 19.
Speaking as minister responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corp., Peterson said the government is set to finance upgrades to 17 power plants in hamlets throughout Nunavut.
“We have many power plants that are aging, and reaching end of life in the communities,” he said during the Baffin Mayors’ Forum. “We need a majorNEWS2015-03-20T16:31:07+00:00COMMENTARY: My Little Corner of Canada, March 20http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674my_little_corner_of_canada_march_20/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674my_little_corner_of_canada_march_20/During the 1960s and early 1970s, resource exploration and development in the Arctic was pretty much uncontrolled.
The resource companies did whatever they wanted to do, with the blessing of the Government of Canada. There was little concern for the environment or wildlife. The Inuit and their concerns were ignored. There were little or no benefits for the communities.
During the late 1970s and 1980s, resource exploration and development came to a standstill while Inuit and governments wereCOMMENTARY2015-03-20T15:49:58+00:00NEWS: Planned water shut-down for Iqaluit March 20 delayedhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674planned_water_shut-down_for_iqaluit_march_20/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674planned_water_shut-down_for_iqaluit_march_20/(Updated at 3:30 p.m.)
Iqaluit’s water woes continued March 19 with a public service announcement from the city informing residents of a temporary utilidor shutdown scheduled for the afternoon of March 20.
Then, at about 3:15 p.m. on March 20, the city sent out another notice, advising residents that the temporary planned water main shutdown, “scheduled to for 1:00 p.m. today has been delayed until further notice.”
“Residents who are affected by this, are asked to turn back on their waterNEWS2015-03-20T15:36:47+00:00NEWS: Photo: Mercury rising: ivory gull feathers full of toxic metalhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_mercury_rising_ivory_gull_feathers_full_of_toxic_metal/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_mercury_rising_ivory_gull_feathers_full_of_toxic_metal/NEWS2015-03-20T15:30:29+00:00NEWS: Photo: “Mad scientist” teaches Nunavut kids about creepy crawlershttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_mad_scientist_teaches_nunavut_kids_about_creepy_crawlers/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_mad_scientist_teaches_nunavut_kids_about_creepy_crawlers/NEWS2015-03-20T15:30:10+00:00NEWS: Photo: Cadets on the march in Cambridge Bayhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_cadets_on_the_march_in_cambridge_bay/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_cadets_on_the_march_in_cambridge_bay/NEWS2015-03-20T15:06:09+00:00NEWS: Photo: Spaceman thrills students at Kuujjuaq schoolhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_spaceman_thrills_students_at_kuujjuaq_school/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_spaceman_thrills_students_at_kuujjuaq_school/NEWS2015-03-20T14:59:59+00:00NEWS: Winter Arctic sea ice extent dips to new 34-year low: data centrehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674winter_arctic_sea_ice_extent_dips_t0_new_34-year_low_data_centre/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674winter_arctic_sea_ice_extent_dips_t0_new_34-year_low_data_centre/This year’s maximum Arctic sea ice extent occurred early — and it’s also the lowest level recorded in the satellite record, which goes back more than 30 years.
That was the judgement March 19 from the Colorado-based National Snow and Ice Data Centre.
However, a late season surge in ice growth is still possible, the NSIDC said, even if it now appears unlikely that the growth could surpass the extent reached Feb. 25.
On Feb. 25, satellite images showed that Arctic sea ice extent appeared toNEWS2015-03-20T14:15:38+00:00NEWS: Amnesty International joins Nunavut hamlet in fighting seismic testinghttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674amnesty_joins_nunavut_hamlet_in_fighting_seismic_testing/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674amnesty_joins_nunavut_hamlet_in_fighting_seismic_testing/An international organization commonly associated with campaigns to protect people around the world from being tortured, abused, imprisoned without due process and otherwise mistreated has turned its sights on Clyde River, Nunavut.
Amnesty International issued a statement March 13 to say they believe Clyde River’s battle against seismic testing in Davis Strait and Baffin Bay is not just about protecting the environment, it’s about protecting human rights.
“When we talk with IndigenousNEWS2015-03-20T13:05:27+00:00NEWS: Photo: The Struggle? It’s for real.http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_the_struggle_its_for_real/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_the_struggle_its_for_real/NEWS2015-03-20T13:00:53+00:00NEWS: Nunavut to pay hunters more for sealskins, furshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_to_pay_hunters_more_for_sealskins_furs/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_to_pay_hunters_more_for_sealskins_furs/The Government of Nunavut announced March 16 that it has increased the price it pays Nunavut hunters and trappers for cleaned and dried seal skins, and that it will pay the cost of auction commissions for other types of fur.
By April 1, Nunavut’s fur pricing program will pay 25 per cent more for sealskins harvested by Nunavut land claim beneficiaries, House Leader Paul Quassa told the legislative assembly March 16, on behalf of Environment Minister Johnny Mike.
The GN also plans to startNEWS2015-03-20T12:00:41+00:00EDITORIAL: A gutsy move on language standardizationhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674a_gutsy_move_on_language_standardization/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674a_gutsy_move_on_language_standardization/As the people of Nunavut contemplate the tarnished dream of April 1, 1999, it’s worth noting that not all is lost.
Just last week, we saw that when elected leaders make decisive use of the powerful instruments that the Nunavut project put into their hands, they can move on from the dithering and magical thinking of the past.
That’s what Education Minister Paul Quassa appeared to do this past March 12, when he announced that his department will look at the idea of adopting Roman orthography asEDITORIAL2015-03-20T11:15:22+00:00NEWS: Photo: Ivakkak race features an Inuit-style ambulancehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_ivakkak_race_features_an_inuit-style_ambulance/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_ivakkak_race_features_an_inuit-style_ambulance/NEWS2015-03-20T11:00:28+00:00NEWS: Nunavut “healing” centre underused, lacking vision: Auditor Generalhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_healing_centre_underused_and_lacking_vision_auditor_general/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_healing_centre_underused_and_lacking_vision_auditor_general/When the Rankin Inlet Healing Facility opened in 2013, 48 new beds were added to Nunavut’s chronically overcrowded prison system.
Yet since the $37-million Rankin Inlet jail opened its doors, it has been underused and, without an overriding vision, it has failed to help the territory cope with its obvious correctional needs.
That’s according to a highly critical Auditor General of Canada’s report on the state of Nunavut corrections, tabled in the legislative assembly in Iqaluit March 10.NEWS2015-03-20T10:00:05+00:00NEWS: Photo: Meet the MChttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_meet_the_mc/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_meet_the_mc/NEWS2015-03-20T09:55:54+00:00NEWS: Nunavut man waits out Rankin blizzard in a cabinhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_man_waits_out_rankin_blizzard_in_cabin/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_man_waits_out_rankin_blizzard_in_cabin/(Updated 5:25 p.m., March 19)
Even though she knew Trevor was an experienced traveller on the land, once the blizzard hit the Kivalliq region on Sunday, Marjorie Autut had moments of panic in the middle of the night, listening to the howling wind and wondering what was happening to her missing son.
When the phone call came after 4 p.m. on March 18 and a voice said casually, “Hi mom,” all she could do was take the phone from her ear and stare at it in confusion.
“Then he goes again, ‘Hi mom,’NEWS2015-03-19T18:32:44+00:00NEWS: French school commission postpones special meeting until later datehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674french_school_commission_postpones_special_meeting_until_later_date/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674french_school_commission_postpones_special_meeting_until_later_date/Nunavut’s francophone school board, the Commission scolaire francophone du Nunavut, or CSFN, has postponed a special general meeting they had scheduled for March 25, the CSFN said March 19 in a news release.
The postponement is due to the recent resignation of one commissioner, Seth Reinhart, and the expected absence of two other commissioners who will not be available for medical and personal reasons, the commission said.
Reinhart, a member of the CFSN for the past six years, resigned hisNEWS2015-03-19T17:25:34+00:00NEWS: Makivik exec to sit on Quebec’s Plan Nord development agencyhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674makivik_exec_to_sit_on_quebecs_plan_nord_development_agency/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674makivik_exec_to_sit_on_quebecs_plan_nord_development_agency/Nunavik now has a seat at the table where the Quebec government oversees development under the province’s Plan Nord development policy.
Quebec’s minister of energy and natural resources, Pierre Arcand, appointed Makivik Corp. vice president Adamie Delisle Alaku March 12 to sit on the board of directors which oversees the Société du Plan Nord.
Delisle Alaku has served as Makivik’s vice-president of renewable resources since his election to the birthright organization in January 2014.
MakivikNEWS2015-03-19T16:30:25+00:00NEWS: Improve Arctic marine mammal research, new study urgeshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674improve_arctic_marine_mammal_co-management_research_monitoring/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674improve_arctic_marine_mammal_co-management_research_monitoring/What really is going on with marine mammal species in the Arctic?&nbsp; And what does the future hold for whales, seals, walrus and polar bears?
To answer these questions, there’s a need for more accurate scientific data — currently lacking for many of the 11 Arctic marine mammal species.
And this will “be key to making informed and efficient decisions about the conservation challenges and tradeoffs facing AMMs [Arctic marine mammals]” in the 21st century,” said Kristin Laidre from the UniversityNEWS2015-03-19T15:10:22+00:00NEWS: TMAC aims to revive mothballed western Nunavut gold mine projecthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tmac_moves_to_revive_mothballed_western_nunavut_gold_mine_project_in_2/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tmac_moves_to_revive_mothballed_western_nunavut_gold_mine_project_in_2/Two years after acquiring the Hope Bay gold mine project in western Nunavut from Newmont Mining Corp.,TMAC Resources Inc.says it plans to bring part of the mine complex out of mothballs in 2015.
TMAC owners said last September that they wanted to see their mine at Hope Bay, located 120 kilometres south of Cambridge Bay on the mainland, operating by 2020.
On March 18, they told the Nunavut Impact Review Board that “the Doris North project is expected to change status from care and maintenanceNEWS2015-03-19T13:39:07+00:00NEWS: Retired lawyer Peterson starts review into death of Nunavut babyhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674retired_lawyer_peterson_starts_review_into_nunavut_nursing_scandal/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674retired_lawyer_peterson_starts_review_into_nunavut_nursing_scandal/On the eve of her first trip to Cape Dorset after her appointment to review a 2012 nursing scandal involving the death of a three-month old baby, Katherine Peterson says she has her work cut out.
“Inform myself, inform myself, inform myself as I go,” Peterson said during a March 17 interview with Nunatsiaq News at Iqaluit’s Caribrew Café.
“I feel like I’m still on a pretty steep learning curve.”
Peterson said she planned to visit Cape Dorset March 18 and March 19, before returning toNEWS2015-03-19T12:32:49+00:00NEWS: Municipal association calls for Nunavut telecom watchdoghttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674municipal_association_calls_for_nunavut_telecom_watchdog/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674municipal_association_calls_for_nunavut_telecom_watchdog/The Nunavut Association of Municipalities is calling for a Nunavut-specific Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commissioner to keep the territory’s high costs of internet access in line with the Northwest Territories and Yukon.
Jeannie Ehaloak, the president of NAM and mayor of Cambridge Bay, told fellow mayors at the Baffin Mayors’ Forum March 17 in Iqaluit that she’s pushing for lower Nunavut internet rates with the help of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
The CRTCNEWS2015-03-19T11:30:36+00:00NEWS: Nunavut slated for $32M in health money: Aglukkaqhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_slated_to_get_32_million_in_new_health_money_aglukkaq/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_slated_to_get_32_million_in_new_health_money_aglukkaq/The federal government will give Nunavut more than $32 million over three years for mental wellness, chronic disease, children’s oral health and to reduce reliance on out-of-territory health systems, Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq announced March 18.
“Our government is committed to working with Nunavummiut in the delivery of community-based, culturally-relevant programs that promote good physical and mental health, and a healthy start in life,” Aglukkaq said.
The money is part of a three-year,NEWS2015-03-19T10:38:24+00:00NEWS: Photo: Quebec Co-op group honoured with awardshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_quebec_co-op_group_honoured_with_awards/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_quebec_co-op_group_honoured_with_awards/NEWS2015-03-19T10:30:55+00:00NEWS: Photo: Quaqtaq singer/songwriter launches new EPhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_quaqtaq_singer_songwriter_launches_new_ep/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_quaqtaq_singer_songwriter_launches_new_ep/NEWS2015-03-19T10:30:21+00:00NEWS: Photo: Working towards a better future in Montrealhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_working_towards_a_better_future_in_montreal/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_working_towards_a_better_future_in_montreal/NEWS2015-03-19T10:00:05+00:00NEWS: Ivakkak dog teams start their 600-km sprint March 17http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ivakkak_mushers_start_their_600_km_sprint/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ivakkak_mushers_start_their_600_km_sprint/Ten dog teams pulled away from Kuujjuaraapik March 17 as the 14th edition of Nunavik’s Ivakkak dog sled race got started one day late this year.
The race, originally scheduled to depart March 16, was delayed due to bad weather.
When dog teams finally left Kuujjuaraapik on the morning of March 17, race organizers said teams encountered winds and fog in the first stretch.
But conditions cleared and mushers finished the first leg of the race under an orange sunset.
Puvirnituq musher PeterNEWS2015-03-19T09:22:36+00:00NEWS: Baker Lake Inuit, NWT Dene pledge to fight uranium project togetherhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674baker_lake_inuit_nwt_dene_pledge_to_fight_uranium_project_together/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674baker_lake_inuit_nwt_dene_pledge_to_fight_uranium_project_together/Inuit and Dene from Saskatchewan have joined forces in opposition of Areva Resources Canada’s proposed Kiggavik uranium project outside Baker Lake.
Baker Lake’s hunters and trappers organization signed a declaration of cooperation with the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation in the Northwest Territories March 11, a document the two parties submitted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s two-week hearing into the uranium project.
The declaration hinges on two main issues: the project’s lack of aNEWS2015-03-18T19:05:16+00:00NEWS: Nunavut holidays don’t reflect territory’s culture, MLA sayshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_holidays_dont_reflect_territorys_culture_mla_says/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_holidays_dont_reflect_territorys_culture_mla_says/Nunavut’s holidays don’t reflect the territory’s cultural traditions well enough, David Joanasie, the MLA for South Baffin, told the territorial government March 17.
In final day of the legislative assembly’s winter sitting, which happened to be St. Patrick’s Day, several MLAs extended St. Patrick’s Day greetings to colleagues, friends and relatives.
Although it isn’t a statutory holiday, the occasion brought to mind a few changes Joanasie thinks the government should make.
Nunavut has oneNEWS2015-03-18T18:19:59+00:00NEWS: Arctic Bay artist honoured with Northwestel’s new directory coverhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_bay_artists_work_graces_northwestel_2015-16_directory_cover/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_bay_artists_work_graces_northwestel_2015-16_directory_cover/The cover of the 2015-16 Northwestel Directory will feature a painting, the Communicator, by Arctic Bay artist Kataisee Attagutsiak, the winner of this year’s cover art competition for Nunavut.
“We loved the Communicator for the way it drew upon both the artist’s personal story and the larger mythology of the Inuit people for inspiration. We also knew that the painting’s clear and striking visual elements would reproduce beautifully on the cover of the directory,” said Bertrand Poisson,NEWS2015-03-18T17:10:48+00:00NEWS: Tech glitches, admin errors wreak havoc on Nunavut courthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tech_glitches_admin_errors_wreak_havoc_on_nunavut_court/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674tech_glitches_admin_errors_wreak_havoc_on_nunavut_court/Justice Robert Kilpatrick shook his head, sighed and covered his face in frustration at the many technological and administrative hiccups he had to work through inside an Iqaluit courtroom March 17.&nbsp;
Kilpatrick presided over a long list of court appearances at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit, including one by the convicted ex-priest pedophile Eric Dejaeger.
Court opened at 9:30 a.m. with a videoconference link to the pre-trial services centre in Surrey, B.C.
But the interview roomNEWS2015-03-18T15:58:26+00:00NEWS: Photo: The best view in townhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_the_best_view_in_town/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_the_best_view_in_town/NEWS2015-03-18T15:30:45+00:00NEWS: Photo: Kitikmeot youth off to Iqaluit for territorial tourneyhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_kitikmeot_youth_off_to_iqaluit_for_territorial_tourney/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_kitikmeot_youth_off_to_iqaluit_for_territorial_tourney/NEWS2015-03-18T15:19:13+00:00NEWS: Nunavut set to save $32 million from cheaper fuel this yearhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_set_to_save_32_million_from_cheaper_fuel_this_year/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_set_to_save_32_million_from_cheaper_fuel_this_year/Thanks to exceptionally low oil prices, the Government of Nunavut will save about $32 million on fuel costs when it resupplies communities later this year, GN officials said March 17.
“While we won’t see any impact on pricing until next fall, we are optimistic that when the 2015 resupply is completed, that savings will remain positive for Nunavut,” the territory’s minister of Community and Government Services, Tom Sammurtok, said at the Baffin Mayors’ Forum in Iqaluit.
Sammurtok announced theNEWS2015-03-18T12:58:19+00:00LETTERS: What does it mean to have the Inuit sled dog as Nunavut’s official animal?http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674what_does_it_mean_to_have_the_inuit_sled_dog_as_nunavuts_official_anim/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674what_does_it_mean_to_have_the_inuit_sled_dog_as_nunavuts_official_anim/(This letter, sent recently to Nunatsiaq News, was addressed to John Quirke, clerk of the Nunavut legislative assembly)
My name is Sue Hamilton. I am the owner, publisher and editor of The Fan Hitch, website and journal of the Inuit sled dog.
I am contacting you regarding historical information relative to the decision making process for choosing the Canadian Inuit dog (qimmiq, or Inuit sled dog) in May 2000 as the Nunavut territory’s official animal.
Might you know the committee members whoLETTERS2015-03-18T11:50:30+00:00NEWS: Parks Canada seeks visitors, volunteer cooks for Nunavut’s Quttirnipaaq parkhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674parks_canada_seeks_more_visitors_volunteer_cookw_for_nunavuts_quttirn/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674parks_canada_seeks_more_visitors_volunteer_cookw_for_nunavuts_quttirn/If you’re yearning for adventure and have a spare $8,000 to spend, or even better, if you can cook: the High Arctic awaits you this summer.
Parks Canada is looking to boost the number of people who visit Nunavut’s huge Quttinirpaaq National Park, located on Ellesmere Island.
“See a stark land of mountains and glaciers. Stand 800 km south of the North Pole as muskoxen graze near Arctic wolves. Hear tales of ancient hunters, polar explorers, and military scientists. Hike at the Top of theNEWS2015-03-18T10:46:22+00:00NEWS: Kiggavik uranium hearing ends with no plebisicite in Baker Lakehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674community_perspective_missing_from_hearing_process/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674community_perspective_missing_from_hearing_process/A public hearing into Areva Resources Canada’s proposed Kiggavik uranium in Nunavut project has wrapped up, but the Nunavut Impact Review Board might never know how the people of the community closest to the proposed mine — Baker Lake — actually feel about it.
On March 14, the final day of the hearing, Baker Lake’s deputy mayor, Silas Arngna’naaq, made a motion to keep the hearing’s record open until the hamlet holds a plebiscite to gauge local opinion on the project, which proposes to sink $2NEWS2015-03-18T09:59:16+00:00NEWS: Winnipeg Art Gallery displays new Arctic-themed exhibitionhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674winnipeg_art_gallery_displays_arctic-themed_exhibition/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674winnipeg_art_gallery_displays_arctic-themed_exhibition/If you’re visiting Winnipeg between now and early May, you will want to take a look at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Earlier this month an exhibit, Arctic Adaptations: Nunavut at 15, opened. That exhibit, which will remain on display until May 3, offers visitors a look at the relationship between architecture, land, climate, and culture in the Arctic.
And it was first presented as Canada’s official exhibition at the 2014 Venice Biennale in Architecture,&nbsp;
Intended to coincide with Nunavut’s 15thNEWS2015-03-17T18:31:09+00:00NEWS: Photo: Kuujjuaq Umimmaks take gold in Nunavik Cuphttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photokuujjuaq_umimmaks_take_gold_in_nunavik_cup/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photokuujjuaq_umimmaks_take_gold_in_nunavik_cup/NEWS2015-03-17T18:00:58+00:00NEWS: Nunavut’s French-language school board to host special meetinghttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavuts_french-language_school_board_to_host_special_meeting/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavuts_french-language_school_board_to_host_special_meeting/Parents with children who attend Iqaluit’s École des Trois-Soleils have called on Nunavut’s French-language school board to hold a special public meeting next week to respond to parent concerns.
The school board, the Commission scolaire francophone du Nunavut (CSFN), will host the meeting March 25 at Trois-Soleils school.
But the tone of the meeting already promises to be tense, while members of the Association des parents francophones du Nunavut (APFN) have drafted a list of questions forNEWS2015-03-17T17:30:17+00:00NEWS: Ethics officer set to “build trust” with Nunavut civil servantshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ethics_officer_set_to_build_trust_with_nunavut_civil_servants/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ethics_officer_set_to_build_trust_with_nunavut_civil_servants/Nunavut Finance Minister Keith Peterson introduced the territory’s first ethics officer in the legislative assembly March 16.
Jeffrey Schnoor of Winnipeg, who served as deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney-general for Manitoba until he retired in 2013, said he looks forward to the part-time position, starting April 1.
“I’m happy to come back to do a little bit of public service,” he said at the assembly. “It’s something I find very rewarding.”
Schnoor will work out of Winnipeg, andNEWS2015-03-17T16:30:40+00:00NEWS: British rugby players hope for world record — at the North Polehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674british_ruggers_hoping_for_world_record_match_at_the_north_pole/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674british_ruggers_hoping_for_world_record_match_at_the_north_pole/Special to Nunatsiaq News
If nobody gets bit by frost — or a polar bear— Nunavut will be the backdrop for a new Guinness World Record for rugby in just under a month’s time.
Two teams of British rugby football players are attempting a 160-kilometre trek from Resolute Bay to the 1996 location of magnetic North Pole to play a regulation Rugby sevens match starting April 15.
(The magnetic North Pole moves slightly every year. 1996 was the year a group of novice trekkers went to the NorthNEWS2015-03-17T15:30:19+00:00NEWS: Nunavut MLA suggests IQ camping trips may be a waste of timehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_mla_suggests_iq_camping_trips_may_be_a_waste_of_time/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_mla_suggests_iq_camping_trips_may_be_a_waste_of_time/Isaac Shooyook, MLA for the High Arctic riding of Quttiktuq, wants the Nunavut government to look at whether its policy on Inuit traditional knowledge in schools is actually helping or harming students’ success after graduation.
Land-based camps in the spring are supposed to teach Nunavut high school students about Inuit traditional knowledge.
But Shooyook asked in the legislative assembly March 16 if those camps are one reason why Nunavut students are doing so poorly compared with studentsNEWS2015-03-17T14:20:50+00:00NEWS: Photo: March is still a lion in the Kitikmeothttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_march_is_still_a_lion_in_the_kitikmeot/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_march_is_still_a_lion_in_the_kitikmeot/NEWS2015-03-17T13:50:53+00:00NEWS: Inuit org rejects mediation in election ballot disputehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674inuit_org_rejects_mediation_in_election_ballot_dispute/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674inuit_org_rejects_mediation_in_election_ballot_dispute/(Clarified March 17, 11:30 p.m.)
Lawyers representing the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and Iqaluit resident Madeleine Redfern didn’t make much headway in court March 13 as they continued to wrangle over what documents the Inuit organization must share with Redfern’s lawyer.
Redfern, who lost the Iqaluit community director election by one vote this past Dec. 8, has applied to the Nunavut Court of Justice to have the election result quashed on the grounds that the QIA prevented eligible votersNEWS2015-03-17T13:10:39+00:00NEWS: Photo: See ice? It’s sea ice, inching toward maximum extent for 2015http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_see_ice_its_sea_ice_reaching_its_maximum_extent_for_2015/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_see_ice_its_sea_ice_reaching_its_maximum_extent_for_2015/NEWS2015-03-17T13:00:24+00:00NEWS: Veteran Nunavut filmmakers shooting next feature productionhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674veteran_nunavut_filmmakers_shooting_next_feature_production/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674veteran_nunavut_filmmakers_shooting_next_feature_production/When it’s 3 a.m. and you’re naked inside your caribou skin sleeping bag in an iglu and the windchill has pulled the temperature down below -50 C and the director yells “action!” and actors playing the bad guys smash into your iglu and rip you from your blankets, those screams you scream are real.
“Yeah, when you hear the terror, there was some realism there,” said Jonathan Franz, producer and director of photography for Maliglutit, the latest Kingullit Productions feature-length dramaNEWS2015-03-17T11:59:34+00:00NEWS: Photo: Mayors’ forum talks up infrastructure, energy and economic developmenthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_mayors_forum_talks_up_infrastructure_energy_and_economic_develop/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_mayors_forum_talks_up_infrastructure_energy_and_economic_develop/NEWS2015-03-17T11:30:53+00:00NEWS: Romeo Saganash sponsors bill to recognize indigenous peoples’ rightshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674federal_bill_wants_canadian_law_to_recognize_indigenous_peoples_rights/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674federal_bill_wants_canadian_law_to_recognize_indigenous_peoples_rights/A bill that would require the federal government to adapt its laws to the United National Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or “UNDRIP,” received second reading in the House of Commons March 12.
The private member’s bill C-641, drafted by Abitibi-James Bay-Nunavik-Eeyou MP Romeo Saganash, received debate in the House of Commons last week, starting with a plea from the Cree MP to consider “indigenous rights as human rights.”
“This should not be a shocking statement to make inNEWS2015-03-17T11:08:28+00:00NEWS: Nunavut’s health budget gets big increase for 2015-16http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavuts_health_budget_gets_big_increase_for_2015-16/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavuts_health_budget_gets_big_increase_for_2015-16/As the Nunavut legislature prepared to adjourn March 17 until May 26, MLAs closed in on the most pressing business of the current sitting: the final approval of Bill 16, which covers the territorial government’s 2015-16 operations and maintenance budget.
And the Nunavut health department remains the largest single recipient of funds, after requesting a budget of $317.4 million to hire more front-line health workers, improve on-the-job safety and service delivery, and battle the continuingNEWS2015-03-17T09:59:10+00:00NEWS: City of Iqaluit works to restore water to residentshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674city_of_iqaluit_working_to_restore_water_to_residents/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674city_of_iqaluit_working_to_restore_water_to_residents/The City of Iqaluit says its crews are working to get water running again for residents of Suputi Street in Happy Valley, some of whom say they’ve been without water for five days.
City workers are trying to find out what could have caused the freeze-up in a section of the city’s utilidor system last week, where water was cut off to a number of houses in the 400 and 500 section.
On March 13, the city sent out a release saying contractors were trying to thaw out a section of pipe in the 500NEWS2015-03-16T19:45:47+00:00NEWS: Photo: Digging out from the stormhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_digging_out_from_the_storm/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_digging_out_from_the_storm/NEWS2015-03-16T19:00:54+00:00NEWS: Family cookbook serves up healthy, tasty and locally-sourced mealshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674family_cookbook_serves_up_healthy_tasty_and_locally-sourced_meals/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674family_cookbook_serves_up_healthy_tasty_and_locally-sourced_meals/You just came through the door after a long day of work and you’ve got a hungry family to feed.
So what to do with that frozen fish or meat in the freezer? A new cookbook compiled for families in Nunavik has some homegrown suggestions.
The glossy 250 pages of the newly-released Nunavik Family Cookbook offer recipes for comfort food staples like caribou macaroni or fish filets smothered in melted cheese. For fancier tastes, try marinated seal ribs or an artfully-arranged stuffed goose wrappedNEWS2015-03-16T18:15:04+00:00NEWS: Nunavut trial on historic sex charges set for November in Pond Inlethttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674historic_nunavut_sex_assault_trial_set_for_november_in_pond_inlet/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674historic_nunavut_sex_assault_trial_set_for_november_in_pond_inlet/Billy Merkosak, the prominent Pond Inlet carver facing numerous sexual assault charges stemming from incidents alleged to have occurred in the late-1970s and mid-1980s, will stand trial on those charges this fall in his home community.
Presiding over Merkosak’s March 16 case at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit, Justice Robert Kilpatrick set a date of Nov. 2, 2015, for a five-day judge-alone trial in Pond Inlet.
Merkosak will face 26 charges, most of them relating to sexual offencesNEWS2015-03-16T17:10:50+00:00NEWS: Any savings from cheap oil should go to green energy: Nunavut MLAhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674any_savings_from_cheap_oil_should_go_to_green_energy_nunavut_mla/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674any_savings_from_cheap_oil_should_go_to_green_energy_nunavut_mla/The Government of Nunavut must do more to find alternatives to diesel-fueled power generation, and now is the time to get started, says Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes.
Low oil prices offer a rare chance for the government to gain a surplus in its annual budget for fuel, and an opportunity to use those gains to invest in alternative energy, Hickes said in the legislative assembly, March 13.
“Right now, the cost of oil is low. Traditionally, it’s always increased,” Hickes later toldNEWS2015-03-16T16:15:35+00:00NEWS: Nunatsiaq News earns nine award nominationshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunatsiaq_news_earns_nine_award_nominations1/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunatsiaq_news_earns_nine_award_nominations1/Nunatsiaq News has been nominated for nine Quebec Community Newspaper Association awards this year and reporter Sarah Rogers leads the pack with three individual nominations.
The awards, which recognize excellence in reporting, writing, newspaper design and websites, are presented annually and pay tribute to work done the previous year — in this case 2014.
Rogers’ three nominations include:
• Best News Story — for the Montreal subway bird plucker;
• Best Investigative or In-Depth ReportingNEWS2015-03-16T15:26:19+00:00NEWS: Photo: Science matters to Cambridge Bay studentshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_science_matters_to_cambridge_bay_students/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_science_matters_to_cambridge_bay_students/NEWS2015-03-16T15:00:49+00:00NEWS: Former Nunavut nurse back in civil courthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_nurse_back_in_civil_court/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_nurse_back_in_civil_court/Debbie McKeown, the former Nunavut nurse at the centre of the Cape Dorset nursing scandal, continued her push March 13 to have the Nunavut Court of Justice quash disciplinary decisions imposed on her by Nunavut’s licensing body for nurses.
McKeown filed a Jan. 13 notice with the court alleging the Registered Nursing Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut investigated and disciplined her twice for the same set of complaints between 2012 and 2014.
McKeown’s lawyer, AustinNEWS2015-03-16T13:15:43+00:00NEWS: Nunavut community’s sewage will flow into the sea until water licence clearshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674naujaat_sewage_will_flow_into_sea_until_water_licence_clears/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674naujaat_sewage_will_flow_into_sea_until_water_licence_clears/Unexplained delays in construction to Naujaat’s sewage lagoon are causing the community’s raw sewage to continue pouring into the sea, says Steve Mapsalak, MLA for Aivilik.
Sewage from the small hamlet, which has just over 1,000 residents, empties into a makeshift pond, “and then starts flowing out into the sea,” Mapsalak told Nunatsiaq News.
Naujaat — which used to be known as Repulse Bay — is located on a bay between Foxe Basin and Hudson Bay in Nunavut’s Kivalliq region.
Mapsalak pointedNEWS2015-03-16T11:55:28+00:00NEWS: Nunavut’s Kiggavik uranium mine still part of our plans: Arevahttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_kiggavik_mine_in_our_plans_areva/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_kiggavik_mine_in_our_plans_areva/Areva Resources Canada addressed the doubters March 13 by insisting that despite the lack of a firm start date, the Kiggavik uranium mine is still a part of the company’s future.
But because it’s Nunavut’s first uranium mine, it will still require several years of permitting and planning before development can begin.
“Since about 2013, we’ve been calling this a project for the (2020s) and 30s,” said Barry McCallum, Areva’s manager of Nunavut affairs. “Even from now, there are three to fiveNEWS2015-03-16T11:10:16+00:00NEWS: Photo: Award-winning filmmaker Kunuk back on the land with camerashttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_award-winning_filmmaker_kunuk_back_on_the_land_with_cameras/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_award-winning_filmmaker_kunuk_back_on_the_land_with_cameras/NEWS2015-03-16T11:00:56+00:00NEWS: Taptuna: GN to publish Nunavut DM, Crown head pay infohttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674taptuna_pledges_annual_disclosure_of_nunavut_dm_salaries/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674taptuna_pledges_annual_disclosure_of_nunavut_dm_salaries/The Government of Nunavut’s deputy ministers and Crown corporation heads will see their salary and bonus packages published annually from now on, Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna said in the legislature March 11.
That follows a decision last year, made after a request from MLAs, to table pay and bonus payments for GN deputy heads.
“Mr. Speaker, we have made it a priority under Sivumut Abluqta to continue to improve the fair and transparent practices of this government,” Taptuna said.
To thatNEWS2015-03-16T09:59:29+00:00NEWS: Photo: Cake-time for Ivakkak racershttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_cake-time_for_ivakkak_racers/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_cake-time_for_ivakkak_racers/NEWS2015-03-15T17:11:19+00:00NEWS: Arctic ice thickness on “dramatic” downward trajectory: climate studyhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_ice_thickness_on_dramatic_downward_trajectory_climate_study/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_ice_thickness_on_dramatic_downward_trajectory_climate_study/After a winter of frigid temperatures in the Arctic, you might think that the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice would be stronger and thicker than during previous years.
Sadly, this is not the case: the Arctic sea extent, now nearing its annual maximum, is likely to dip to a record low.
And new research points to an irreversible long time trend in the decline in the thickness of Arctic sea ice.
Arctic sea ice is thinning “dramatically,” according to climatologist Ron Lindsay from the University ofNEWS2015-03-13T18:59:37+00:00COMMENTARY: My Little Corner of Canada, March 13http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674my_little_corner_of_canada_march_13/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674my_little_corner_of_canada_march_13/The High Arctic Exiles story is a complicated and long story. In this article, I will only deal with the new environment we faced.
When we were relocated from the eastern coast of Hudson Bay in Nunavik to Resolute on Cornwallis Island in the High Arctic in 1953, we arrived in a very different environment than what we were used to and expected.
Dumped on the beach where there was only gravel as far as the eye could see, we felt very lost and abandoned.
It was late August and it was alreadyCOMMENTARY2015-03-13T17:34:29+00:00NEWS: Kuujjuaq gets 60 new childcare spaceshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kuujjuaq_gets_60_new_daycare_spaces/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kuujjuaq_gets_60_new_daycare_spaces/The Quebec government will fund 60 new childcare spaces in Kuujjuaq this year, the MNA for Ungava announced earlier this week.
That means a third childcare centre in Nunavik’s largest community, where the waiting list for childcare spaces has risen to as high as 90 families this year.
Ungava MNA Jean Boucher announced money for 60 new subsidized spaces under Kuujjuaq’s Iqitauvik childcare centre March 9.
“Today’s announcement is great news for families in the Nunavik region,” Boucher said inNEWS2015-03-13T16:02:07+00:00NEWS: New slate of Nunavut cooks learning the tradehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674new_slate_of_nunavut_cooks_learning_the_trade/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674new_slate_of_nunavut_cooks_learning_the_trade/Special to Nunatsiaq News
CAMBRIDGE BAY — A group of Nunavut’s next top cooks have been putting their skills to good use lately — creating delicious meals for Cambridge Bay residents as part of their in-school training.
Through Nunavut Arctic College’s camp cook program, students from Cambridge Bay, Resolute Bay, Baker Lake, Gjoa Haven and Iqaluit have come together to learn how to make taste buds pop.
“The camp cook program is basically a foundation cooking program,” said chef instructorNEWS2015-03-13T14:15:53+00:00NEWS: Photo: Blizzard shuts down Kivalliq offices, hocket tournamenthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_blizzard_shuts_down_kivalliq_offices_hocket_tournament/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_blizzard_shuts_down_kivalliq_offices_hocket_tournament/NEWS2015-03-13T14:00:14+00:00NEWS: Nunavik battling harmful mould in region’s childcare centreshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_fights_off_mould_in_regions_childcare_centres/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_fights_off_mould_in_regions_childcare_centres/The Kativik Regional Government said it’s getting to the root of the mould problems plaguing the region’s daycare centres.
Four childcare centres in Nunavik have been decontaminated in recent months after mould was found growing on the interior walls or under flooring in the centres.
Just this past January, an inspection discovered mould between the windows and walls at the childcare centre in Kangirsuk, closing the facility until a temporary one could be opened.
Now, the KRG is waiting onNEWS2015-03-13T12:26:01+00:00NEWS: Iqaluit students to make up cancelled classes during winter breakhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_students_to_make_up_cancelled_classes_during_winter_break/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_students_to_make_up_cancelled_classes_during_winter_break/Students at Iqaluit’s four English-language schools will have classes from March 30 to the morning of April 2 after all, the Iqaluit District Education Authority announced March 11.
IDEA schools had marked the week of March 30, leading into the start of the city’s 50th annual Toonik Tyme spring festival, as “staff sessional days,” and a full week off for all students.
That all changed when IDEA and Qikiqtani School Operations decided Iqaluit schools needed to make up for several cancelledNEWS2015-03-13T12:04:48+00:00NEWS: Photo: Tanya Tagaq takes home Juno for best Aboriginal albumhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_tanya_tagaq_takes_home_juno_for_best_aborignal_album/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_tanya_tagaq_takes_home_juno_for_best_aborignal_album/NEWS2015-03-13T12:00:56+00:00NEWS: Quassa: GN mulls Roman orthography as Nunavut-wide standardhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674quassa_gn_mulls_roman_orthography_as_nunavut-wide_standard/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674quassa_gn_mulls_roman_orthography_as_nunavut-wide_standard/Paul Quassa, the Nunavut education minister, confirmed a process March 12 that could change the way the Inuit language is taught nearly everywhere in Nunavut: work on the use of Roman orthography as a standard writing system.
“Mr. Speaker, at the senior levels, we have discussed the issue of standardizing the writing system for Inuktut in our schools and we believe that a standard writing system has the potential to build an environment where students would be better equipped for learning moreNEWS2015-03-13T11:05:13+00:00NEWS: Photo: Ivakkak teams arrive for March 16 race start-uphttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_ivakkak_teams_arrive_for_march_16_race_start-up/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_ivakkak_teams_arrive_for_march_16_race_start-up/NEWS2015-03-13T11:00:47+00:00NEWS: Photo: Iqaluit firefighters raise money through shirt saleshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_iqaluit_firefighters_raise_money_through_shirt_sales/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_iqaluit_firefighters_raise_money_through_shirt_sales/NEWS2015-03-13T11:00:01+00:00NEWS: First Air gets set to modernize its fleethttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674first_air_looks_to_upgrade_its_fleet/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674first_air_looks_to_upgrade_its_fleet/Travellers throughout the North can look forward to seeing newer and sleeker First Air aircraft soaring into the skies.
First Air said March 12 that the airline wants to upgrade its current fleet and phase out certain aircraft models.
“The goal is to modernize the fleet while decreasing the number of aircraft types in use, thereby reducing maintenance costs and complexity in its operations,” the airline said in a news release.
To do that, First Air is looking at both the ATR 42-500 as wellNEWS2015-03-13T09:59:49+00:00NEWS: Nunavut legal aid spending starts to level offhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_legal_aid_spending_starts_to_level_off/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_legal_aid_spending_starts_to_level_off/When Nunavummiut find themselves in trouble with the law and must appear before the Nunavut Court of Justice, chances are high that lawyers working for the Nunavut Legal Services Board will be there to represent them.
That’s according to the 2013-14 annual report of the LSB that was tabled in the legislative assembly in Iqaluit Feb. 27.
“Ninety-eight per cent of all matters going before the Nunavut Court of Justice, in the areas covered by the LSB, are legally aided,” the report said.
TheNEWS2015-03-12T19:31:35+00:00NEWS: UN urges Canada to curb violence against Indigenous womenhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674un_report_calls_for_action_to_curb_violence_against_indigenous_women/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674un_report_calls_for_action_to_curb_violence_against_indigenous_women/A new report by the United Nations says Canada has violated the rights of Indigenous women here by not finding out why so many of them are targets of violence.
The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has added its voice to a growing number of groups calling on the Canadian government to launch a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.
In a report released March 6, the UN committee found Canada to be in violation of the Convention on theNEWS2015-03-12T17:30:24+00:00NEWS: Photo: Riding the George Riverhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_riding_the_george_river/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_riding_the_george_river/NEWS2015-03-12T17:00:11+00:00NEWS: Okalik: Nunavut corrections policy will be “grounded in Inuit values”http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674okalik_nunavut_corrections_policy_will_be_grounded_in_inuit_values/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674okalik_nunavut_corrections_policy_will_be_grounded_in_inuit_values/Nunavut’s justice minister, Paul Okalik, says the territory needs a “made-in-Nunavut” solution to rehabilitate convicted offenders doing territorial time.
“We’re looking at the legislation to cater to the inmates, so that more Inuit-focused treatment will be provided to the inmates, and they can move on with their lives and be more productive members” of society, he told Nunatsiaq News at Nunavut’s legislative assembly, March 11.
In a minister’s statement earlier that day, Okalik set out hisNEWS2015-03-12T14:39:51+00:00NEWS: Nunavut workers struggle in the cold to fix Rankin water main freezehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_works_to_restore_water_service_to_rankin_inlet_after_main_freeze/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_works_to_restore_water_service_to_rankin_inlet_after_main_freeze/A frozen water main has brought havoc to some homes, businesses and government offices in Rankin Inlet over the past week and half.
Low water pressure froze the water line in the community’s Old Town sector, shutting off water to a number of buildings between Feb. 28 and March 7, said the Government of Nunavut’s department of Community and Government Services, which oversees the utilidor system in Rankin Inlet.
“CGS staff and local contractors have been working through extreme coldNEWS2015-03-12T10:58:30+00:00NEWS: Nunavut hamlet willing to support uranium minehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_hamlet_willing_to_support_uranium_mine/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_hamlet_willing_to_support_uranium_mine/The hamlet of Baker Lake says it would welcome the proposed Kiggavik uranium mine and the economic opportunities a second mine in the region could bring.
But — and it’s a big but — the welcome mat is contingent on how community members feel about Areva Resources’ proposed uranium mine, a position that is still unclear to hamlet councillors.
In a written submission to the Nunavut Impact Review Board, hamlet council representatives admit they haven’t been able to come to a consensus on theNEWS2015-03-12T09:56:02+00:00NEWS: Photo: Auditor General makes food bank donationhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_auditor_general_makes_food_bank_donation/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_auditor_general_makes_food_bank_donation/NEWS2015-03-12T09:50:52+00:00NEWS: Photo: Nunavik’s only wind turbine keeps turninghttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nunaviks_only_wind_turbines_keeps_turning/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nunaviks_only_wind_turbines_keeps_turning/NEWS2015-03-12T09:30:33+00:00NEWS: Baffin caribou: Nunavut officials prefer continuation of hunting banhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674baffin_caribou_nunavut_officials_prefer_continuation_of_hunting_ban/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674baffin_caribou_nunavut_officials_prefer_continuation_of_hunting_ban/The Government of Nunavut’s preferred management plan for caribou on Baffin Island is a continuation of the interim hunting ban now in place, GN officials said March 11 in Iqaluit.
That’s according to Drikus Gissing, director of wildlife management for the territory’s environment department, who fielded questions on the first day of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board’s three-day public hearing in Iqaluit.
The NWMB is holding the hearing from March 11 to 13 at the Anglican parish hall toNEWS2015-03-11T19:04:12+00:00NEWS: Nunavut mineral exploration set to rise slightly in 2015: NRCANhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_2015_mineral_exploration_set_to_rise_slightly_in_2015_nrcan/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_2015_mineral_exploration_set_to_rise_slightly_in_2015_nrcan/After nosediving in 2013 and again in 2014, the amount of money that mining and mineral exploration companies plan to spend in Nunavut is set to rise in 2015.
That’s according to the latest exploration look-ahead on exploration spending from 2010 to 2015, compiled by Natural Resources Canada and released March 9.
The information for Nunavut shows that spending dropped from $422.5 million in 2012 to $257.6 million in 2013. The spending drop continued in 2014, ending up with a total expenditureNEWS2015-03-11T18:59:49+00:00NEWS: Quebec boosts Nunavik Tourism Association’s marketing budgethttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674quebec_boosts_nunavik_tourism_associations_marketing_budget/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674quebec_boosts_nunavik_tourism_associations_marketing_budget/The Quebec government will earmark an additional $426,000 which will be used promote Nunavik as a tourism destination, Jean Boucher, the MNA for Ungava, announced March 10 in Kuujjuaq.
The Nunavik Tourism Association will receive the money for promotional and marketing activities in 2015–2017, Boucher said.
The money comes from Quebec’s tourism industry development program, which provides support for development of tourism north of the 49th parallel, le programme de développement deNEWS2015-03-11T17:09:41+00:00NEWS: Arctic environmental champion on the cusp of cross-Canada book tourhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_environmental_champion_on_the_cusp_of_cross-canada_book_tour/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_environmental_champion_on_the_cusp_of_cross-canada_book_tour/From idea to finished product, Sheila Watt-Cloutier figures she spent about five years completing her book, The Right to be Cold.
But when she finally held the bright blue, 352-page hardcover in her hands, it felt oddly anticlimactic, she said.
“It’s been such a challenge getting it to this stage,” she said with a sigh March 10 at a book-signing booth set up at A Taste of the Arctic in Ottawa, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s annual celebration of northern food and culture.
The Kuujjuaq native wasNEWS2015-03-11T15:45:33+00:00NEWS: Municipal association offering to help with Iqaluit’s money troubleshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674municipal_association_offering_to_help_with_iqaluits_money_troubles/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674municipal_association_offering_to_help_with_iqaluits_money_troubles/The Nunavut Association of Municipalities promises to help facilitate extra revenues and cost savings for the City of Iqaluit starting with a proposal to allow hotel taxes.
“Typically hotel taxes in Canada have been used to support local infrastructure, support recreation facilities, tourism, and offset expenses,” Madeleine d’Argencourt, executive director of the association, told Iqaluit city council, March 10.
“This would be an amazing alternative revenue generation possibility for theNEWS2015-03-11T14:40:26+00:00NEWS: Arctic temps to rise, starting in 2020: new researchhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_temps_to_rise_2c_over_40_years_starting_in_2020_new_research/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_temps_to_rise_2c_over_40_years_starting_in_2020_new_research/Starting in 2020, temperatures in the Arctic are set to heat up dramatically, says a new study.
That’s when human-caused warming will move the world “into a regime in terms of multi-decadal rates of change that are unprecedented for at least the past 1,000 years,” says the paper “Near-term Acceleration in the Rate of Temperature Change,” published March 9 in the journal Nature.
For the paper, scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory looked at various climate models andNEWS2015-03-11T13:45:38+00:00NEWS: Iqaluit council rejects proposed tax increaseshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_council_rejects_proposed_tax_increases/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_council_rejects_proposed_tax_increases/Iqaluit City Council narrowly voted March 10 against tax increases proposed in its 2015 budget and moved to send the budget back to the city’s finance committee of the whole.
Councillors voted four votes to three against proposed increases on first reading of the 2015 mill rate bylaw.
Council’s agreement on the proposed increases in January has since met sharp opposition from the Iqaluit Chamber of Commerce, which represents the interests of Iqaluit businesses.
This year’s draft budgetNEWS2015-03-11T12:38:09+00:00NEWS: Arctic food lovers pack the house for Inuit org eventhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_food_lovers_pack_the_house_for_inuit_org_event/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_food_lovers_pack_the_house_for_inuit_org_event/OTTAWA — Herb Nakimayak is from Paulatuk in the Northwest Territories and if you want to know the truth, he’s crazy about fish.
If you had to find him in a hurry on the evening of March 10, you only needed to stand near the fish and seafood platter at the lobby of the National Art Centre in Ottawa.
“I grew up on whitefish and char so for me, it brings back my younger days, when I was a teenager, trapping, the celebrations we’d have in the fall, sharing with the whole community,” saidNEWS2015-03-11T11:09:59+00:00NEWS: CanNor, GN announce new money for Nunavut tourismhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674cancor_gn_announce_new_money_for_tourism_sector/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674cancor_gn_announce_new_money_for_tourism_sector/Nunavut’s tourism industry is getting a $1.5 million boost through money announced March 10 by the federal and territorial governments.
The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency announced spending on tourism of $802,800 over two years, while the Government of Nunavut’s Economic Development and Transportation department will dole out $715,500 for tourism across the territory, the two governments announced in a March 10 news release.
The money will go towards community tourism project,&nbsp;NEWS2015-03-11T10:15:47+00:00NEWS: Auditor General: Nunavut’s jails a menace for staff, inmates alikehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674auditor_general_nunavuts_jails_a_menace_for_staff_inmates_alike/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674auditor_general_nunavuts_jails_a_menace_for_staff_inmates_alike/Nunavut’s substandard territorial jails threaten the safety and security of staff and inmates alike, the Auditor General of Canada, Michael Ferguson, found in a report issued March 10.
“We concluded that the Department of Justice has not met its key responsibilities for inmates within the correctional system,” the auditor general found.
“We concluded that the Department of Justice did not adequately plan for and operate facilities to house inmates, and did not adequately manage inmates inNEWS2015-03-10T20:20:07+00:00NEWS: Photo: Prepping Rankin Inlet’s skating rinkhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_prepping_rankin_inlets_skating_rink/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_prepping_rankin_inlets_skating_rink/NEWS2015-03-10T20:15:57+00:00NEWS: Photo: Google mapping Nunavut’s most southerly communityhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_google_mapping_nunavuts_most_southerly_community/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_google_mapping_nunavuts_most_southerly_community/NEWS2015-03-10T20:15:50+00:00NEWS: Photo: A feast for the eyes and the stomachhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_a_feast_for_the_eyes_and_the_stomach/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_a_feast_for_the_eyes_and_the_stomach/NEWS2015-03-10T20:15:23+00:00NEWS: Photo: Learning how to cook… for other peoplehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_learning_how_to_cook..._for_other_people/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_learning_how_to_cook..._for_other_people/NEWS2015-03-10T20:15:14+00:00LETTERS: Language rights lawsuit sponsor defends francophone school commissionhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674language_rights_lawsuit_sponsor_defends_francophone_school_commission/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674language_rights_lawsuit_sponsor_defends_francophone_school_commission/I expect that most of your readers are tired of reading in your paper about internal divisions within the Francophone community and the ongoing saga concerning Ecole des Trois Soleils.
However, I feel compelled to respond to the relentless public relations campaign launched by the APFN, a self-styled parents group, that seeks to denigrate the CSFN and the legal action that we have taken to protect our minority language rights guaranteed by Section 23 of the Charter.
It is needless to sayLETTERS2015-03-10T18:19:37+00:00NEWS: Kuujjuaq hockey program helps students spread their wingshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kuujjuaq_hockey_program_helps_students_to_spread_their_wings/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kuujjuaq_hockey_program_helps_students_to_spread_their_wings/Using hockey to encourage school perseverance isn’t a new concept to Nunavik.
But a new Kuujjuaq-based hockey program is hoping to prepare students for post-secondary education in the South, but also to show them what it takes to get there.
In 2014, Kuujjuaq hockey dads Paul Parsons and Danny Fafard helped to launch Naturaliit —&nbsp; eagles in Inuktitut —&nbsp; a project to help get young hockey players interested in pursuing post-secondary education,&nbsp; and maybe their hockey career.
Like the NunavikNEWS2015-03-10T16:55:36+00:00NEWS: Inuit org election dispute starts with a spat over evidencehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674inuit_election_dispute_starts_with_a_spat_over_evidence/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674inuit_election_dispute_starts_with_a_spat_over_evidence/Out of seven banker’s boxes of documents relating to the Qikiqtani Inuit Association’s elections last December, the QIA’s lawyer has offered to hand over only a portion as potential evidence to Madeleine Redfern, who is asking the Nunavut Court of Justice to quash the results of an election she lost by one vote.
In other words, the judge in the case may be forced to rule on who needs to hand over what before the civil case can even proceed.
Redfern filed an application for a judicial reviewNEWS2015-03-10T15:15:28+00:00NEWS: Nunavut Health installing digital diagnostics in regional hubshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_health_installing_digital_diagnostics_in_regional_hubs/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_health_installing_digital_diagnostics_in_regional_hubs/Nunavut’s department of health will replace “outdated” diagnostic X-ray equipment with digital units at health centres in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet this fall, territorial health minister Paul Okalik announced in the legislative assembly, March 9.
The new equipment will allow community health centres to transmit images to radiologists electronically and also to assess patients “within 24 hours,” Okalik said.
“Improving diagnostic services within our communities will greatly improve theNEWS2015-03-10T14:30:17+00:00NEWS: Ethics officer for Nunavut civil service set to start work April 1http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ethics_officer_for_nunavut_civil_service_set_to_start_work_april_1/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ethics_officer_for_nunavut_civil_service_set_to_start_work_april_1/Nunavut Finance minister Keith Peterson confirmed March 9 that the territorial government is set to announce the appointment this month of an independent ethics officer who will handle complaints of wrong-doing in the civil service.
“We’re looking very much forward to this office opening on April 1,” Peterson said in the legislative assembly.
The appointment is part of a series of amendments to the Nunavut’s Public Service Act, which the government drafted in 2013. The changes come onto forceNEWS2015-03-10T13:38:12+00:00NEWS: Photo: Saving the caribou: Baffin residents gather for hearingshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_saving_the_caribou_baffin_residents_gather_for_hearings/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_saving_the_caribou_baffin_residents_gather_for_hearings/NEWS2015-03-10T13:30:43+00:00NEWS: Photo: Hundreds flock to ITK’s annual Arctic food festhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_hundreds_flock_to_itks_annual_arctic_food_fest/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_hundreds_flock_to_itks_annual_arctic_food_fest/NEWS2015-03-10T13:30:23+00:00NEWS: Air Greenland holds off on scheduled Iqaluit-Nuuk route for 2015http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674air_greenland_holds_off_on_scheduled_iqaluit-nuuk_route_for_2015/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674air_greenland_holds_off_on_scheduled_iqaluit-nuuk_route_for_2015/Air Greenland won’t run any scheduled flights between Nuuk and Iqaluit this year, the airline’s chief financial officer, Christian Keldsen, confirmed March 9.
“It’s just for 2015, there’s a definite time-out,” Keldsen said from the company’s head office in Nuuk.
“Whether it will run next year is something we will need to decide at a later point. But it hasn’t been shut down for eternity.”
The airline ran a seasonal scheduled route between the Nunavut and Greenlandic capital cities for threeNEWS2015-03-10T12:31:02+00:00NEWS: Nunavik’s Ivakkak dog sled race takes off March 16http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunaviks_ivakkak_dog_sled_race_takes_off_march_16/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunaviks_ivakkak_dog_sled_race_takes_off_march_16/The 14th edition of Nunavik’s Ivakkak sled dog race, set to begin March 16, will feature 12 dog sled teams this year from across the region — as well as some veteran mushers and a few new ones.
The annual race kicks off from Kuujjuaraapik March 16, after which teams will wind their way up the Hudson Bay coast to this year’s finish line in Puvirnituq.
2014 race winner Allen Gordon of Kuujjuaq will be back to defend his title, as will 2013 Ivakkak winner Peter Ittukallak from Puvirnituq.
ButNEWS2015-03-10T11:30:35+00:00NEWS: Nunavut anti-uranium group makes final push against Kiggavik minehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_anti-uranium_group_makes_its_final_push/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_anti-uranium_group_makes_its_final_push/Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit, the Baker Lake-based anti-uranium group made a final plea before a public hearing of the Nunavut Impact Review Board March 7 aimed at a rejection of the proposed Kiggavik uranium mine.
The group addressed the review board at its final hearing this month in Baker Lake on the proposed mine, repeating its oft-stated position that the mine would be a lose-lose proposition for the Inuit of Kivalliq.
Nunavummiut Makitagunarningit, or Makita for short, is a registeredNEWS2015-03-10T09:57:47+00:00NEWS: We’ve struck a deal with Canada to end lawsuit, Nunavut land claim org sayshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674weve_struck_a_deal_with_canada_to_end_lawsuit_nunavut_land_claim_org_s/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674weve_struck_a_deal_with_canada_to_end_lawsuit_nunavut_land_claim_org_s/(Updated 5:10 p.m., March 9)
Negotiators representing Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and Canada have reached what they describe as a “tentative agreement” that would settle a massive lawsuit that NTI filed in December 2006, NTI said March 9 in a news release.
“Details of the settlement will be disclosed once the agreement has been considered and approved by NTI, the Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut,” NTI said.
The lawsuit, which alleged Ottawa committed numerous breaches of theNEWS2015-03-09T20:04:37+00:00NEWS: Northern residents tax break needs beefing up, Nunavut MLA sayshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674northern_residents_tax_break_needs_beefing_up_nunavut_mla_says/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674northern_residents_tax_break_needs_beefing_up_nunavut_mla_says/The federal government’s longstanding northern residents income tax deduction just isn’t big enough to protect Nunavut tax-filers from the rising cost of living, Iqaluit-Tasiluk MLA George Hickes said March 5 in the legislative assembly.
“My constituents understand that inflation has increased significantly since 1987 and they feel that it is high time for the northern residents deduction to be adjusted for inflation,” Hickes said.
The northern residents deduction, created in 1986, allowsNEWS2015-03-09T19:00:29+00:00NEWS: Nunavut groups suggest modest quotas replace Baffin caribou banhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_groups_suggest_modest_quotas_replace_baffin_caribou_ban/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_groups_suggest_modest_quotas_replace_baffin_caribou_ban/As the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board prepares for public hearings this week on whether to allow hunting of the diminishing Baffin caribou herds, some groups are calling for an immediate lifting of the ban and a limited harvest.
The Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board is requesting the Jan. 1, 2015, ban be quashed and a quota of 60 bull caribou be established with animals distributed equally to Baffin hunters and trappers organizations through the QWB.
“Inuit are of the opinion that although theNEWS2015-03-09T19:00:05+00:00NEWS: Photo: Auditor General holds first Nunavut press conference to slam jailshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_auditor_general_holds_first_nunavut_press_conference_to_slam_jai/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_auditor_general_holds_first_nunavut_press_conference_to_slam_jai/NEWS2015-03-09T18:30:22+00:00NEWS: Ottawa announces funding for elder programs in Nunavuthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ottawa_announces_funding_for_elder_programs_in_nunavut/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674ottawa_announces_funding_for_elder_programs_in_nunavut/Three organizations — one in each regional hub — are getting money from Ottawa to support programs for elders.
A March 9 news release from Employment and Social Development Canada announced that the recipients are Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society in Iqaluit, the Kitikmeot Heritage Society in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet Fitness.
Each group will receive $25,000 under the New Horizons for Seniors Program to help elders “share their knowledge, skills and experiences with othersNEWS2015-03-09T17:50:50+00:00NEWS: Qulliit honours Nunavut’s wisest womenhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674qullit_honours_nunavuts_wisest_women/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674qullit_honours_nunavuts_wisest_women/Three Nunavut women have been honoured for their territorial contributions on everything from violence and suicide prevention to the promotion of arts and sports among Nunavummiut youth.
Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council announced March 6 the recipients of this year’s Wise Woman and Outstanding Young Women Awards — given each your to recognize role models in Nunavut’s communities.
This year, Qulliit honoured Cambridge Bay elder Eva Kakolak Avadluk as an advocate for her community andNEWS2015-03-09T16:59:47+00:00NEWS: Photo: Iqaluit fiddlers play a few jigs to packed audiencehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_iqaluit_fiddlers_play_a_few_jigs_to_packed_audience/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_iqaluit_fiddlers_play_a_few_jigs_to_packed_audience/NEWS2015-03-09T16:30:18+00:00NEWS: Navy, Parks Canada ice divers set to explore Erebus wreckhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674navy_parks_canada_ice_divers_set_to_explore_erebus_wreck/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674navy_parks_canada_ice_divers_set_to_explore_erebus_wreck/The High Arctic winter proved too harsh for the British Royal Navy 170 years ago, when sea ice trapped and entombed the Franklin expedition’s two ships.
But those same conditions will be ideal for the Royal Canadian Navy’s Atlantic Fleet Diving Unit next month, when it will direct an “ice dive” to the graveyard of one of those ships — HMS Erebus — and help Parks Canada investigate how the 19th century British expedition met its end.
“Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic has been operating in thatNEWS2015-03-09T15:46:48+00:00NEWS: Photo: Hundreds flock to hear ice vibrations in Iqaluithttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photohundreds_flock_to_hear_ice_vibrations_in_iqaluit/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photohundreds_flock_to_hear_ice_vibrations_in_iqaluit/NEWS2015-03-09T15:30:47+00:00NEWS: Salluit turns to ASIST following cluster of suicides late last yearhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674salluit_turns_to_asist_following_cluster_of_suicides_late_last_year/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674salluit_turns_to_asist_following_cluster_of_suicides_late_last_year/It’s been a long winter in Salluit.
The Nunavik village of about 1,300 people is a few souls smaller after a string of suicide deaths gripped the community over the last few months of 2014.
Death did not discriminate: first, a middle-aged construction worker, then a teenager, followed by a group of young Sallumiut in their 20s. A suicide that took place later in Inukjuak is thought to be linked.
“It was happening almost every second week,” said Michael Cameron, a community leader andNEWS2015-03-09T13:45:01+00:00NEWS: Nunavik’s FCNQ mourns death of president Eli Elijassiapikhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunaviks_fcnq_mourns_death_of_president_eli/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunaviks_fcnq_mourns_death_of_president_eli/Nunavimmiut are mourning the loss of Eli Elijassiapik of Inukjuak, president of their Illagit co-operative federation, la Fédération des co-opéatives du Nouveau-Québec.
Elijassiapik, 79, died March 3.
“Eli was truly dedicated to the co-operative movement and worked every day to ensure that his local co-op and the FCNQ continued to run smoothly. His presence will be sorely missed,” the FCNQ said in a March 5 release.
Elijassiapik, born in 1936 in a camp on the Nauligarvik River, north ofNEWS2015-03-09T12:18:10+00:00NEWS: Elder MLA stages walkout, accuses Nunavut government of ignoring IQhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674elder_nunavut_mla_wants_more_inuit_knowledge_in_government/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674elder_nunavut_mla_wants_more_inuit_knowledge_in_government/Isaac Shooyook, Nunavut’s elder MLA from Quttiktuq, walked out of the legislative chamber during oral question period March 5 to protest what he said is the absence of Inuit traditional knowledge within the Nunavut government’s policies and practices.
Shooyook said that for two days in a row, he asked George Kuksuk, the minister of culture and heritage, about the Government of Nunavut’s use of Inuit traditional knowledge, or Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
Shooyook said in past sittings he askedNEWS2015-03-09T11:10:31+00:00NEWS: Making justice relevant, and local, in Nunavik communitieshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674making_justice_relevant_local_in_nunavik/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674making_justice_relevant_local_in_nunavik/KUUJJUAQ -— Nunavik offenders are used to travelling south to be tried, sentenced and incarcerated.
Even those whose cases are processed within the region by the province’s travelling court circuit still deal with lawyers and judges from outside the region.
But in a growing number of cases, justice is being served within Nunavik communities, by Nunavummiut.
Since 2000, Makivik Corp. has nurtured the creation of nine justice committees in the region, community-driven groups who work withNEWS2015-03-09T10:00:14+00:00NEWS: Photo: C-17 lands in advance of 2015 Nunalivuthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_c-17_lands_in_advance_of_2015_nunalivut/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_c-17_lands_in_advance_of_2015_nunalivut/NEWS2015-03-08T09:30:23+00:00NEWS: Nunavut Sivuniksavut students turn to crowdfunding for Hawaii triphttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_students_turn_to_crowdfunding_to_fundraise_for_haawaii_trip/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_students_turn_to_crowdfunding_to_fundraise_for_haawaii_trip/Ten second-year students at Nunavut Sivuniksavut, the Ottawa-based college program for Inuit, want to embark on a cultural exchange trip to Hawaii this May — and they’ve gone online to see if generous donors can help them raise money.
Crowdfunding is a way of raising money for a project or venture by soliciting contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet.
So, the NS students have opened an “Inuit Student Cultural Exchange” site on GoFundMe to raise $10,000 for theNEWS2015-03-06T17:50:25+00:00COMMENTARY: My Little Corner of Canada, March 6http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674my_little_corner_of_canada_march_6/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674my_little_corner_of_canada_march_6/Lancaster Sound has been recognized for decades by the international scientific and environmental community as one of the most important ecosystems in the world.&nbsp; It has been called “The Serengeti of the Arctic.”
Iconic species like the humpback, beluga, narwhal, walrus, polar bears, thousands of various seabirds and other marine mammals inhabit and migrate through it each year.
It is the gateway to their breeding and calving areas all through the High Arctic. Scientists and environmentalCOMMENTARY2015-03-06T15:55:04+00:00NEWS: Unilingual elders in Nunavut may get medical escorts on demandhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674unilingual_elders_in_nunavut_can_get_medical_escorts_again/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674unilingual_elders_in_nunavut_can_get_medical_escorts_again/Nunavut elders travelling outside the territory for medical treatment may now choose to have an escort accompany them if they speak only Inuktitut.
Health minister Paul Okalik announced the change to the government’s medical travel policy during a minister’s statement in Nunavut’s legislature March 5.
“Today we recognize that escorts for unilingual elders participate in the continuum of health care for elders,” Okalik said.
“This includes reducing stress during travel and ensuring comfortNEWS2015-03-06T14:00:22+00:00NEWS: Inuit art evolving to include contemporary themes, printmaker sayshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674inuit_art_evolving_to_include_contemporary_themes_says_printmaker/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674inuit_art_evolving_to_include_contemporary_themes_says_printmaker/Nunavut is a complex place defined by more than just clichés like polar bears and sealskins. The same goes for Inuit art.
Master printmaker Paul Machnik says it’s time for printmaking in Nunavut to evolve beyond the iconic and traditional Kenojuak Ashevak-style we so often see represented in galleries worldwide.
“You can’t just keep on repeating the same old, same old. Not to put it down, but you need to move on,” Machnik said at the Canadian Guild of Crafts in Montreal after his lectureNEWS2015-03-06T12:29:05+00:00NEWS: Photo: Japanese trekker hoping to walk from Resolute to Grise Fiordhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_japanese_trekker_hoping_to_walk_from_resolute_to_grise_fiord/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_japanese_trekker_hoping_to_walk_from_resolute_to_grise_fiord/NEWS2015-03-06T12:00:05+00:00NEWS: Nunavut MLA questions GN priorities on community airportshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_mla_questions_gns_priorities_on_community_airports/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_mla_questions_gns_priorities_on_community_airports/As the $400 million-plus Iqaluit airport improvement project forges ahead, Baker Lake MLA Simeon Mikkungwak says his constituents are wondering how far behind the government will leave the rest of the territory’s 24 airports and airstrips.
“The Iqaluit International Airport P3 project was initiated before many of us were elected to this house,” Mikkungwak said during question period in the Nunavut legislative assembly, March 4.
The Iqaluit airport project is a public-private partnership, orNEWS2015-03-06T11:30:48+00:00NEWS: As Iqaluit Arctic Council meeting nears, Aglukkaq touts Canada’s focus as chairhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674aglukkaq_touts_canadas_focus_as_arctic_council_chair/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674aglukkaq_touts_canadas_focus_as_arctic_council_chair/Canada has put northerners at the forefront of the Arctic Council’s agenda — that was the word from Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, who also serves as chair of the Arctic Council.
“Under our chairmanship, the council has prioritized actions that will better the lives of Arctic residents,” Aglukkaq said in a March 5 news release.
That release came after Arctic Council’s senior Arctic officials and the six permanent participant organizations, which represent indigenous peoples around the ArcticNEWS2015-03-06T11:05:42+00:00NEWS: Nanisivik naval fuel station postponed until 2018: National Defencehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nanisivik_refueling_port_wont_open_until_2018_national_defence/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nanisivik_refueling_port_wont_open_until_2018_national_defence/Hiccups with construction at the site of Baffin Island’s Nanisivik naval port have now delayed the opening of the facility until 2018, the federal defence department said this week.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper first announced in 2007 that the Arctic deep water port would be built at Nanisivik, the site of an existing dock once used by the now defunct zinc-lead mine of the same name.
Construction was originally planned to start in 2010 and wrap up this year but the Department of NationalNEWS2015-03-06T10:15:35+00:00NEWS: Nunavik students prepare for the challenge of a lifetimehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_students_prepare_for_the_ski_of_a_lifetime/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_students_prepare_for_the_ski_of_a_lifetime/KUUJJUAQ — Eric Lemire is gearing up, physically and mentally, for the biggest trip of his life.
It’s a sunny but piercingly cold Saturday morning in Kuujjuaq. Lemire and some fellow students from Jaanimmarik high school put on layers of clothing before they step into their skis.
Lemire, 14, is one of a group of a dozen students aged 13 to 17 along with teachers who are training to cross-country ski along Ungava Bay between Kuujjuaq and Tasiujaq later this month — a distance of roughly 140NEWS2015-03-05T15:34:29+00:00NEWS: Photo: Meet Nunavut’s wise woman of 2015http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_meet_nunavuts_wise_woman_of_2015/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_meet_nunavuts_wise_woman_of_2015/NEWS2015-03-05T15:30:36+00:00NEWS: New Nav Canada contract kills airport training, four jobs in Nunavuthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674new_nav_canada_contract_kills_airport_training_four_jobs_in_nunavut/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674new_nav_canada_contract_kills_airport_training_four_jobs_in_nunavut/Nunavut will lose a training program and four jobs when an Ottawa-based company takes over air traffic radio communications in small airports throughout Nunavut by April 1, MLAs warned in the legislative assembly.
First in line with his concerns in the assembly, March 4, was Rankin Inlet. South MLA Alexander Sammurtok.
Sammurtok said his community will lose three of the jobs, as well as a long-running observer-communicator training program at Nunavut Arctic College.
“Nunavut students willNEWS2015-03-05T14:27:55+00:00NEWS: Arctic sea ice may set new low winter maximum: satellite observationshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_sea_ice_may_set_new_low_winter_maximum_satellite_observations/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_sea_ice_may_set_new_low_winter_maximum_satellite_observations/Ice observers in Denmark and the United States are watching Arctic ice carefully as this nears its largest annual extent in two or three weeks.
Previous years have seen a surge in Arctic ice extent during March.
However, if the current pattern of below-average extent continues, Arctic sea ice extent may set a new lowest winter maximum, the Colorado-based National Snow and Ice Data Centre said March 4.
Its satellite images show Arctic sea ice extent continues to track well below average, butNEWS2015-03-05T13:16:18+00:00NEWS: CRTC decision reduces some Northwestel internet rates for NWT, Yukonhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674crtc_decision_to_lower_internet_rates_in_some_northern_communities/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674crtc_decision_to_lower_internet_rates_in_some_northern_communities/The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said March 4 that telecommunications provider Northwestel must lower its rates this spring for certain residential internet services in Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
Customers in satellite-based Nunavut, however, who pay retail internet prices that are much higher than those in the NWT and Yukon, will likely wait a while longer before they see any relief from prices that range up to $179.95 a month in Iqaluit for only 5NEWS2015-03-05T12:01:40+00:00NEWS: Nunavut boys find hockey heaven in Edmontonhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_boys_find_hockey_heaven_in_edmonton/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_boys_find_hockey_heaven_in_edmonton/Special to Nunatsiaq News
CAMBRIDGE BAY — The winners of the Kitikmeot’s Shoot for Success contest reaped their rewards on March 3, and got more than they bargained for.
Nolan Norberg, a Grade 1 student from Kugluktuk’s Jimmy Hikok Ilihakvik elementary school, and Grade 8 student Chad Eetoolook of Gjoa Haven won an all expenses paid trip to Edmonton to see the Oilers play the Los Angeles Kings, thanks to a school attendance project in western Nunavut.
Both boys had attendance rates of 95NEWS2015-03-05T10:01:22+00:00NEWS: Photo: Paws to consider: Polar bear tracks emerge from the landscapehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photopaws_to_consider_polar_bear_tracks_emerge_from_the_landscape/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photopaws_to_consider_polar_bear_tracks_emerge_from_the_landscape/NEWS2015-03-05T10:00:40+00:00NEWS: Waste water woes, the cost of living and AWG trials in Nunavikhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674waste_water_woes_the_cost_of_living_and_awg_trials_in_nunavik/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674waste_water_woes_the_cost_of_living_and_awg_trials_in_nunavik/KUUJJUAQ — System operators in Nunavik need to do a better job sampling their community’s wastewater to ensure it’s properly treated before it goes back into the environment, says the Kativik Regional Government.
A recent report by the KRG’s department of municipal works shows that, on average, only half of the region’s communities conduct sampling.
The discrepancy between communities is large: while operators in Aupaluk, Quaqtaq, Kangiqsujuaq and Inukjuak ran all six required samplings inNEWS2015-03-04T19:50:27+00:00NEWS: Five Pangnirtung beneficiaries to contest QIA community director positionhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674five_pangnirtung_beneficiaries_to_contest_qia_community_director_posit/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674five_pangnirtung_beneficiaries_to_contest_qia_community_director_posit/Inuit beneficiaries in Pangnirtung will have five candidates to choose from in the upcoming byelection for a community director, a news release from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association said March 3.
The release included an unofficial list of candidates for the election, to be held April 7:
• Leopa Akpalialuk;
• Manasa Evic;
• Peter Evic;
• Hezakiah Oshutapik; and,
• Sakiasie Sowdlooapik
Polling stations open between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.&nbsp; in Pangnirtung on April 7, with advance pollingNEWS2015-03-04T18:41:17+00:00NEWS: Nunavik rockers enjoy the spotlighthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_rockers_enjoy_the_spotlight/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_rockers_enjoy_the_spotlight/When Sandy Kakayuk and his old bandmates recorded some rock songs in the 1970s, he could never have imagined they’d get digitized and then ring out from stereos and MP3 players around North America 40 years later.
But thanks to the success of Native North America Vol 1: Aboriginal Folk, Rock and Country 1966-1985, released by Light in the Attic Records late last year, that’s exactly what’s happened.
The album, curated by Vancouver-based DJ and music historian Kevin Howes, features InuitNEWS2015-03-04T17:29:36+00:00NEWS: HTO tries to suspend Nunavut uranium mine hearinghttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674day_one_of_nunavut_uranium_mine_hearings_includes_a_motion_to_stop_the/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674day_one_of_nunavut_uranium_mine_hearings_includes_a_motion_to_stop_the/Hunters and trappers from Baker Lake have submitted a formal request to suspend a final hearing into the Kiggavik uranium project near their community.
But the Nunavut Impact Review Board, which is conducting the hearing to assess Areva Canada’s Kiggavik final environmental impact assessment, did not pass the motion on day one of the hearings March 3 in Baker Lake.
The HTO’s motion had asked that the hearing be suspended because Areva has yet to provide a project start date.
The absence ofNEWS2015-03-04T15:25:22+00:00NEWS: Nunavut must do more to reduce violence against women, MLA sayshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_must_do_more_to_reduce_violence_against_women_mla_says/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_must_do_more_to_reduce_violence_against_women_mla_says/Though the Government of Nunavut doesn’t support a national inquiry on missing and murdered indigenous women, MLAs who attended a national roundtable on the issue, Feb. 27, said the territory needs to do more to protect women and children from violence.
“The statistics regarding missing and murdered women across Canada are shocking and heart-wrenching,” Pat Angnakak, MLA for Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu, said in Nunavut’s legislative assembly, March 3.
“However Mr. Speaker, it is clear to me thatNEWS2015-03-04T14:32:46+00:00NEWS: Nunavik launches Arctic guide traininghttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_launches_arctic_guide_training/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavik_launches_arctic_guide_training/KUUJJUAQ — The South has offered its expertise to the North for decades in the form of fly-in professionals and consultants.
But when it comes to tourism in Nunavik, its regional government wants to build that expertise among local Inuit.
“Our main goal is to highlight Inuit culture,” said Christian Bouchard, the Kativik Regional Government’s tourism coordinator.
And while the region relies on support and training from more established southern tourism operators, they don’t necessarilyNEWS2015-03-04T12:30:23+00:00NEWS: Photo: Nunavut director screens two NFB short films in Iqaluithttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nfb_shorts_on_nunavut_screen_in_iqaluit/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nfb_shorts_on_nunavut_screen_in_iqaluit/NEWS2015-03-04T12:00:33+00:00NEWS: Photo: Lightening blades: CamBay youth comes home with goldhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_lightening_blades_cambay_youth_comes_home_with_gold/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_lightening_blades_cambay_youth_comes_home_with_gold/NEWS2015-03-04T12:00:01+00:00NEWS: First a vision, now a declaration: new talks on Nunavik self-governmenthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674first_a_vision_now_a_declaration_new_talks_on_nunavik_self-government/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674first_a_vision_now_a_declaration_new_talks_on_nunavik_self-government/KUUJJUAQ — Nunavik’s Parnasimautik report may be signed and complete, but the process of engaging Inuit in the region appears to have just begun.
Parnasimautik, or Plan Nunavik, is the result of years of consultation across the region to develop a blueprint for the region’s future.
The report, signed last fall, set out clear priorities for Nunavik’s leadership, from the need to protect and promote the Inuit language and culture, to identifying clear terms for allowing resource development inNEWS2015-03-04T11:01:00+00:00NEWS: Photo: Nunavimmiut women gather in Akulivik for second annual conferencehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nunavimmiut_women_gather_in_akulivik_for_second_annual_conferenc/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nunavimmiut_women_gather_in_akulivik_for_second_annual_conferenc/NEWS2015-03-04T11:00:01+00:00NEWS: Photo: Quebec hosts conference on northern developmenthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_quebec_hosts_conference_on_northern_development/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_quebec_hosts_conference_on_northern_development/NEWS2015-03-04T10:50:48+00:00NEWS: The magic of ice music returns to Nunavut’s capitalhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674the_magic_of_ice_music_returns_to_nunavuts_capital/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674the_magic_of_ice_music_returns_to_nunavuts_capital/Iqalungmiut will get a chance to hear the sound of ice music again March 7 and March 8 when Terje Isungset returns to the territorial capital to perform using instruments hewn from lake water.
The Norwegian musician will showcase jazzy tracks from his recently released album, Meditations, which includes songs recorded during his first visit to Iqaluit in 2013.
“Last time it was fantastic,” Isungset told Nunatsiaq News March 3, from his home in Norway which he said is located between Oslo andNEWS2015-03-04T09:58:38+00:00NEWS: Nunavut health minister defends scope of Cape Dorset nurse reviewhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_health_minister_defends_scope_of_cape_dorset_nurse_review/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_health_minister_defends_scope_of_cape_dorset_nurse_review/Nunavut Health Minister Paul Okalik fended off questions in the Legislative Assembly in Iqaluit March 2 about criticisms that lawyer Katherine Peterson’s external review into the 2012 death of a three-month old infant in Cape Dorset is too narrow in scope.
“Concerns have been expressed that the scope of the independent external review into the death of Makibi Timilak is too narrow in that its terms of reference do not seem to allow for a review of the circumstances that led to the tragedy,”NEWS2015-03-03T19:52:31+00:00NEWS: The North’s big chill to continue through spring, forecast predictshttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674the_big_chill_to_continue_into_the_norths_spring_forecast_says/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674the_big_chill_to_continue_into_the_norths_spring_forecast_says/Tired of the deep freeze this winter?
Don’t put away your heavy parka just yet: the Weather Network’s long-range weather forecast shows below normal temperatures continuing for most of northern Canada.
The good news — some of Baffin Island and Nunavik will see less precipitation, so snow shovels may get a break.
Overall, the trends that have prevailed over the winter are forecast to persist through March and beyond, according to the Weather Network’s 2015 Spring Outlook, revealed MarchNEWS2015-03-03T18:31:23+00:00NEWS: Strike action at Nunavut power utility gains 92 per cent supporthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674strike_vote_at_nunavut_power_utility_gains_92_per_cent_support/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674strike_vote_at_nunavut_power_utility_gains_92_per_cent_support/Following the break-down of mediated wage-benefit talks this past December, 92 per cent of unionized workers at the Qulliq Energy Corp. have voted in favour of a strike, the Public Service Alliance of Canada said March 3 in a news release.
“Members are prepared to take strike action to reach a fair and reasonable deal. They stand together in solidarity,” said Bill Fennell, president of the Nunavut Employees Union, the PSAC component that represents QEC employees.
The union said they couldNEWS2015-03-03T17:50:14+00:00NEWS: MLA takes Nunavut to task for opposing national MMIW inquiryhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674mla_takes_nunavut_to_task_for_opposing_national_mmiw_inquiry/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674mla_takes_nunavut_to_task_for_opposing_national_mmiw_inquiry/The Nunavut government’s opposition to a national inquiry on missing and murdered indigenous women is “unfortunate,” Tununiq MLA Joe Enook said March 2 in the legislative assembly.
“We seem to be abandoning our fellow aboriginal people because we don’t have many missing women in Nunavut. It is an unfortunate position to take,” Enook said in a question aimed at Jeannie Ugyuk, the minister responsible for the status of women.
In a statement earlier that afternoon, Ugyuk said keeping indigenousNEWS2015-03-03T16:50:53+00:00NEWS: Nunavut MLA demands elders’ care facility for Rankin Inlethttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_mla_demands_elders_care_facility_for_rankin_inlet/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_mla_demands_elders_care_facility_for_rankin_inlet/Nunavut may have the smallest proportion of seniors in the country but Alexander Sammurtok, the MLA for Rankin Inlet South, wants to be sure the territory is ready to accommodate the territory’s growing elderly population with a full-service 24-hour facility.
To that end, Sammurtok submitted a petition to the government, signed by 142 members of his constituency, requesting the Government of Nunavut “open and operate a 24-hour elders’ care facility in the community of Rankin Inlet.”
TheNEWS2015-03-03T15:20:39+00:00NEWS: Admin hiccups jeopardize public internet sites in Nunavuthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674admin_hiccups_jeopardizing_public_internet_sites_in_nunavut/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674admin_hiccups_jeopardizing_public_internet_sites_in_nunavut/With money running out, a vanished Government of Nunavut administrator and a lot of confusion over what constitutes “good standing” for a board of directors, free, public internet access across Nunavut might be in jeopardy.
The funding, provided under the Community Access Program since 2012 by the GN and by the federal government prior to that, pays for new computers and internet service at public locations across the territory such as libraries and community centres.
Education minister PaulNEWS2015-03-03T14:20:24+00:00NEWS: Photo: Going to school pays off… with a trip to see, and meet, the Oilershttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_going_to_school_pays_off..._with_a_trip_to_see_and_meet_the_oile/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_going_to_school_pays_off..._with_a_trip_to_see_and_meet_the_oile/NEWS2015-03-03T14:00:45+00:00NEWS: Photo: Senior officials meet in advance of May Arctic Council gathering in Iqaluithttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_senior_officials_meet_in_advance_of_may_arctic_council_gathering/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_senior_officials_meet_in_advance_of_may_arctic_council_gathering/NEWS2015-03-03T13:00:52+00:00NEWS: Arctic Voices offers new northern perspectives at Ottawa museumhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_voices_offers_novel_northern_perspectives_at_ottawa_museum/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_voices_offers_novel_northern_perspectives_at_ottawa_museum/OTTAWA — Rick and Catherine Andrews sit down to play the Arctic Animal Adaptations game at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
The question — “Why are these barren-ground caribou travelling in a line?” — pops up next to a video of caribou fording a river in single file. The couple are manning two of four consoles with buttons in front of each console labelled A, B, C, and D corresponding to the multiple choice answers on the screen in front of them.
Four possible answers appear. Does it make itNEWS2015-03-03T12:29:33+00:00NEWS: Photo: How to light up February, the traditional wayhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_how_to_light_up_february_the_traditional_way/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_how_to_light_up_february_the_traditional_way/NEWS2015-03-03T12:00:46+00:00NEWS: Nunavut board issues project certificate for Meliadine gold projecthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674meliadine_mine_gets_its_project_certificate/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674meliadine_mine_gets_its_project_certificate/Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold project now has the go-ahead from the Nunavut Impact Review Board to operate what promises to become the territory’s second gold mine.
The review board issued Meliadine its project certificate Feb. 26, subject to 127 terms and conditions.
Most of those require that Agnico Eagle Mines put in place monitoring programs to keep tabs on the mine’s socio-economic and environmental impacts.
The NIRB had already given the project the green light this past October,NEWS2015-03-03T11:30:47+00:00NEWS: Nunavut kids tell stories, relieve stress, through musichttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_kids_tell_stories_relieve_stress_through_music/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_kids_tell_stories_relieve_stress_through_music/Special to Nunatsiaq News
CAMBRIDGE BAY — In a small, dark, make-shift studio at the community hall in Cambridge Bay, kids are trying out a new way to express their feelings.
It involves rapping into a microphone and telling stories to music.
Yellowknife-born rapper Aaron “Godson” Hernandez is in the regional hub during a short Kitikmeot tour teaching kids how to release stress through music.
“I’m here to help the kids write songs and record their struggles of living in the North,” saidNEWS2015-03-03T09:58:33+00:00NEWS: Photo: Backstage at the Indspire awards in Calgaryhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_backstage_at_the_indspire_awards_in_calgary/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_backstage_at_the_indspire_awards_in_calgary/NEWS2015-03-03T09:30:12+00:00NEWS: NWC boss says he can’t make food affordable for everyone in Nunavuthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nwc_boss_says_he_cant_make_food_affordable_for_everyone_in_nunavut/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nwc_boss_says_he_cant_make_food_affordable_for_everyone_in_nunavut/As one of Nunavut’s two major food retailers, the North West Co. faces the greatest number of complaints about the lack of access to affordable, nutritious food for the poorest people in Nunavut.
The Nutrition North Canada air freight subsidy, in place since 2011, was supposed to help make healthy food more affordable for all Nunavummiut — and it has, says NWC.’s president and CEO, Edward Kennedy.
But any effort to make food completely affordable for all would call for actions that go farNEWS2015-03-02T19:29:30+00:00NEWS: KRG says yes to Nunavik’s waste management planhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674krg_oks_nunaviks_waste_management_plan/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674krg_oks_nunaviks_waste_management_plan/KUUJJUAQ — Kativik Regional Government councillors have voted to adopt a region-wide plan to implement recycling and compost programs across Nunavik.
Councillors passed a bylaw that will send Nunavik’s Residual Materials Management Plan on to Quebec’s National Assembly, where the bylaw will wait for final approval before coming into force.
The plan offers guidelines on a number of projects aimed at overseeing the disposal of plastic, hazardous waste, construction materials, vehicles, metalNEWS2015-03-02T18:24:55+00:00NEWS: Father-son NHLers run hockey camp in western Nunavuthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674father-son_nhlers_run_hockey_camp_in_nunavut/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674father-son_nhlers_run_hockey_camp_in_nunavut/Special to Nunatsiaq News
CAMBRIDGE BAY — Kids from across Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region scored big last week if they happened to be in Cambridge Bay during their week off from school.
Former National Hockey League players and Stanley Cup winners Jamie and Reggie Leach hosted a hockey camp in the western Nunavut town from Feb. 24 to Feb. 27.
“We travel all over the country doing lots of skill development camps and Cambridge Bay Minor Hockey was nice enough to invite us up for this four-dayNEWS2015-03-02T14:45:42+00:00NEWS: Kivalliq hunters’ org opposes Nunavut’s first uranium projecthttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kivalliq_hunters_org_opposes_nunavuts_first_uranium_project/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674kivalliq_hunters_org_opposes_nunavuts_first_uranium_project/Hunters’ organizations in the Kivalliq are banding together to oppose the Kiggavik uranium project, days before a blizzard-delayed final hearing on the project is set to start in Baker Lake on the afternoon of March 3.
A Feb. 26 resolution from the Kivalliq Wildlife Board — created under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and made up of the chairs of each hunters and trappers organization in the region — made their position clear.
“The Kivalliq Wildlife Board does not agree with approvingNEWS2015-03-02T12:33:35+00:00NEWS: Nunavut photographer selling photos for crisis linehttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_photographer_selling_photos_for_crisis_line/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavut_photographer_selling_photos_for_crisis_line/He’s a videographer by trade and he comes from a small town in Ontario’s cottage country called Victoria Harbour. You’ve probably never heard of it.
But since he and his dog Isaac came to work for Atiigo Media in Iqaluit two years ago, Mark Aspland has made good friends and they’ve taught him a lot about Nunavut.
Some of the stories they’ve told, about friends and family members being depressed and killing themselves, were hard to hear. And so were the statistics which show that Nunavut hasNEWS2015-03-02T11:45:28+00:00NEWS: National roundtable to focus on violence prevention campaignhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674national_roundtable_to_focus_on_violence_prevention_campaign/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674national_roundtable_to_focus_on_violence_prevention_campaign/Governments and Indigenous groups from across the country say they’re committed to joining efforts to end violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada, following the first ever national roundtable on the issue.
Indigenous families and leaders, premiers, provincial and territorial ministers and federal representatives met in Ottawa Feb. 27, pledging to develop a violence prevention and awareness campaign ahead of a second national roundtable in 2016.
The province of Manitoba has saidNEWS2015-03-02T10:59:21+00:00NEWS: Alcohol-fueled crime falls a bit in Kuujjuaq, after two years of retail wine, beerhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674two_years_into_booze_sales_alcohol-fueled_crime_down_in_kuujjuaq/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674two_years_into_booze_sales_alcohol-fueled_crime_down_in_kuujjuaq/KUUJJUAQ — The empty Budweiser cans scattered around Kuujjuaq provide a visual reminder that this Nunavik community remains the only one in this region — or in the eastern Arctic for that matter — where you can buy beer and wine over the counter.
But as the sale of retail beer and wine sales in Kuujjuaq enters its second year, the impact on community peace does not appear to be that great, and alcohol-fueled crime is down a little in Nunavik’s largest community.
In 2012, 173 people inNEWS2015-03-02T09:55:14+00:00NEWS: Photo: Language conference wraps up in Iqaluithttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_language_conference_wraps_up_in_iqaluit/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_language_conference_wraps_up_in_iqaluit/NEWS2015-03-02T09:00:46+00:00NEWS: Photo: Staying healthy, and out of trouble, in Cambridge Bayhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_staying_health_and_out_of_trouble_in_cambridge_bay/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_staying_health_and_out_of_trouble_in_cambridge_bay/NEWS2015-03-02T09:00:22+00:00NEWS: Photo: Nowhere Land film sheds light on changing North Baffinhttp://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nowhere_land_film_sheds_light_on_changing_north_baffin/
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674photo_nowhere_land_film_sheds_light_on_changing_north_baffin/NEWS2015-03-02T09:00:09+00:00